LanaCindy

I was squaring off the quilt to do the binding and the last edge is curved in and my top is bunched along that edge. I already cut the other 3 sides!!! It is now off by 1/4 inch. If i cut the other sides down 1/4 more I risk losing the flower pattern when I bind it. In the picture it is cut with the batting showing along that edge. The quilt also now has a bunched area where the border meets the next fabric.

What do I do to fix this....it is a gift for a friend!!!!!

tjradj

1/4 inch is really not enough to sweat over. Just trim it square and bind it. No one will ever get out a measuring tape to check if one border is 1/4 inch off. Especially if it's the bottom. Since your border quilting runs off the edge on the sides, it won't make a difference if it does on the bottom too.
Did you know that professional photo framers don't use equal amounts top and bottom? They use the same on the sides, but often use a slightly wider width on the bottom than the top. It gives a visual illusion of being equal.

irishrose

That is not enough to worry about. It's also the reason I plan on never using cross grain fabric for my wide borders again. I want the wide border cut from length of the fabric. The width has a mind of it's own when being FMQ. I assume it does the same on the longarm.

irishrose

:oops:

blueangel

Don't sweat the small stuff.

Jennifer22206

That's not a big deal - don't sweat it!

jlong

I didn't know this. But it is true when I remember the few times that I did use the length. It did work better. thanks

irishrose

I knew the width had more give than the length, but because I'm a new quilter, I hadn't encountered it much. Three of the four quilts I've made have had the borders grow slightly as they were handled. Two were high quality fabric and one was okay. The one that behaved was an inexpensive stiffer fabric I purchased for the color. On the one I'm finishing now, I deliberately cut the border strips short and they still grew slightly. Not so much they can't be quilted, but enough to make it harder and, yes, there is a tuck at a seam.

SueDor

I was wondering why some of my quilts are a little off. Thanks for the info.

ckcowl

when a quilt is quilted by a long-armer (or anyone else) the fabric (draws-up) just like when doing applique or embroidery- this is the reason for it being necessary to have your backing and batting larger than the top- then after completion it is spread smooth trimmed and squared- it is normal for the edges to come out like they are on this quilt. and when an edge to edge pattern is used on the quilt it is also normal for some of that stitching to be in the binding.