I am an idiot. Please help!
#1
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Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 3
I am an idiot. Please help!
I'm new to quilting. I'm working on my second quilt and I swear to God that I measured 4 times, but guess what I did? Cut my square too short. Is there a product like a tape that I can tape on the extra .5 inch that I need (since I have no extra fabric other than some scrap) or am I s.o.l?
Thanks
Thanks
#2
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
Taping will not work. However, if you have extra fabric, you can sew pieces together to "make" a new piece of fabric that is large enough. If you have a piece that is 1.5" wide and as long as your square, for example, you can sew it on and then cut the resulting piece to the correct measurement. Old-time quilters often had only small scraps to work with and would do this to get a piece of fabric large enough to cut to the size needed.
#4
Taping will not work. However, if you have extra fabric, you can sew pieces together to "make" a new piece of fabric that is large enough. If you have a piece that is 1.5" wide and as long as your square, for example, you can sew it on and then cut the resulting piece to the correct measurement. Old-time quilters often had only small scraps to work with and would do this to get a piece of fabric large enough to cut to the size needed.
#5
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: NY
Posts: 10,590
You are not an idiot. Believe me, a quilter who has not done what you have done at least once, is a rare thing indeed. And I don't think quilters are the only ones. I bet carpenters do it a lot too, hence the carpenters credo "measure twice, cut once". We all know that saying and still we end up with the occasional short, pieced together with scraps piece. I have more than a few borders on quilts with a 1/2" patch in them.
#6
Super Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 4,688
Don't worry, this is a mistake that many of us make -- if I am cutting and let my mind wander the least little bit I am guaranteed to have miss-cut at least one block (or a whole border length -- which is really annoying). As others have said, if you have a scrap that is at least 1 1/2" wide, sew it on and then re-cut the block. When I patch like this, I try to check the adjacent blocks and make sure the seam does not encounter the seams of any adjacent block. I also sometimes press the seam open so I have less bulk, but once quilted only you know it was a mistake.
#8
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Posts: 8,145
Happens to all of us. Some of my "best" quilts came out of making just such a mistake and then getting creative to make some kind of quilt out of my mistakes.
Prism 99 has the answer, so I won't go into it. good luck and have fun1
Prism 99 has the answer, so I won't go into it. good luck and have fun1
#9
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Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Corpus Christi, Tx.
Posts: 16,105
Yes even carpenters can't get it right. You should see how many homes are off in their square footage.
You are not an idiot. Believe me, a quilter who has not done what you have done at least once, is a rare thing indeed. And I don't think quilters are the only ones. I bet carpenters do it a lot too, hence the carpenters credo "measure twice, cut once". We all know that saying and still we end up with the occasional short, pieced together with scraps piece. I have more than a few borders on quilts with a 1/2" patch in them.
#10
Taping will not work. However, if you have extra fabric, you can sew pieces together to "make" a new piece of fabric that is large enough. If you have a piece that is 1.5" wide and as long as your square, for example, you can sew it on and then cut the resulting piece to the correct measurement. Old-time quilters often had only small scraps to work with and would do this to get a piece of fabric large enough to cut to the size needed.
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