quiltingnd

A friend had me pick out some fabric colors that were her daughter's favorite colors to make a quilt for her upcoming birthday. (she did pay me for the fabric) When it came to picking the fabric for the border, I didn't have a bunch of options and picked one that I thought would work...never considering that it had lines in it.

So, today after using the border calculator to see how big I could get the border, I settled on a nice 5 inch border for size. It never occured to me that the pattern itself wouldn't square when I squared the fabric before cutting. So cut away I did. I cut all the strips of 5 1/2 inches and sewed them together.

That's when I notice the pattern lines are not straight with my cuts. There is only ONE way to fix this that I can think of. The pattern has blocks of 2 inches. I could go and cut the fabric to follow the lines of the block and lose 3 1/2 inches of border all the way around. But at least the pattern would look straight and follow my sewing line. OR I can just leave it. It's being made for a 9 yr old little girl. How much will she notice a wonky pattern?

Hubby says to leave it and not stress over it as my friend isn't paying me to make it....but I feel like if I leave it then it isn't the best that I could do...and it's not perfect. (not that any of my quilts have been perfect.) This is only my 4th lap size quilt that I've ever made. (I did make two TINY baby blankets, but not sure if they count.)

What should I do? Just leave it as is? At least it would have a nice size and proportionate border...or cut it down to 2 inches (which would be be down to 1 1/2 after seams allowance). (And the lattice is a full two inches in width.)

No chance of buying more fabric as I took what was left on the bolt.

I'm stumped and developing a headache from worrying about it.

RedGarnet222

Maybe put plain cornerstones on where the two come together. That would solve the problem. I don't know your design that you are making, but it could be a solution and a simple fix.

quiltingnd

It's not off at just the corners. It's crooked along the seam line where the lattice and border meet. So..the line/pattern instead of going straight along the seam line vears off.

Try drawing a straight line on the right side of a piece of paper and then suddenly start drifting to the left. So at the bottom of the paper, the line is to the right and at the top of the paper, the line is half-way across the paper close to the left side.

That's what it looks like. Ugh..not very good at explaining. I could take a pic I guess.

PaperPrincess

I know what you mean. It would bother me, so I would have to recut it along the lines of the print. You probably don't want to spend any more money, but you could add a 3" solid color outer border.

sahm4605

I say leave it. dont fret. the little girl will love that you made her something and not worry about it. I don't fret over those things. Unless it is soooooooo glaringly obvious. think of it as a conversation piece about the quilt.

nativetexan

since she paid for the fabric, i'd try to get it cut straight and work it out that way. good luck.

Tartan

Stripe or directional fabric is seldom on the straight of grain. If I could trim the border narrower but have the stripe running straight that is what I would do.

irishrose

This one is a problem. My particular self says don't use it, but then I've seen $300 dresses with the same problem. Fabric is usually not printed straight. If the color is what you want, then I'd leave it.

quiltingnd

Here it is. I am just making myself sick over this. I live in the middle of nowhere so going and picking up more fabric isn't an option. (70 miles from the nearest town) I REALLY don't want to lose my 5 inch border. But I don't have any other fabric to use in it's place (or even in conjunction with).

Well...I folded it up..and will sleep on it. I just wish it had occured to me that the pattern wouldn't run straight and I would have avoided all of this mess.

JBeamer

Can't you just cut the boarder fabric so the pattern is straight, even though the material won't be on the straight of grain. Yes it might stretch some and yes you will lose a bit of boarder width but this might be a compromise solution. Good luck in your endevor.