That goes back to what I wrote upthread - finding out why things are ending up wonky in the first place.

But in theory, if you've got perfectly square blocks, and you're really focused and diligent when sewing them together (no going off the highway at the end of a seam, always having a consistent seam allowance), the top should end up square.

But this process is where you learn that all the different, seemingly inconsequential things really do matter.

Is your thread too thick? Are you setting the seams first? Are throwing around a lot bias edges? Are you pressing correctly, whether open or to one side?

But it can all go back to the cutting. When I was teaching I was surprised at how many long time quilters were not cutting correctly by not lining up the rulers at the right place. So the 2" strips was really a 1 15/16 strip - might not sound like a big deal, but put a lot of strips together or sub-units, sew a tiny bit off on the seam allowance, have a little tuck in your pressing - and you end with what I affectionately call a cluster****. You get the idea. ;-)

I'm helping a friend right now on her quilt. It's a freaking monster 90x96. And based on the design of the blocks, the quilt top could not be trimmed before putting on the borders because it would really screw with the visual image.

But you can easily see on the back where she sent off on the sewing when putting the blocks together - and when you have over 140 7" blocks, even a 1/32" of an inch is going to add up to big problems.

And I'm not talking about what show judges would think. Just the hassle of putting it together and quilting it - getting it to lay flat and squaring it up.

Again, I'm going to send you back to Sharon Schamber - how she squares quilts up....and it's brilliant. I was to lazy to use it for my friend's quilt, but I'm going to try it next time. She calls this magical basting. Here's Part 1-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi1RgiLI9GI

When you add your borders, you should also measure the quilt in 3 places, average the measurements, cut your borders to the measurment then ease either the quilt or the border. This helps to square up a large quilt. If the center of the quilt is off and you just sew borders on you can skew it even more.

MTS & PaperPrincess, Thank you for your help. I have the link saved in my favorites. The largest size that I think I would ever try is a lap quilt. MTS, I wish you were not in hiding and lived in MA. I could use a few lessons from you! Good luck with your student.

Quilter711
Nancy