Jane Quilter

Sorry for your difficulties. I made my surrounding neutrals oversized, so where I needed a little extra length on a boarder side, I ripped out and used some of that extra seam allowance, and spread the amount over many of the block. When it was perfect, I trimmed them all to 1/4". I know this solution requires planning ahead, and it may not work for you, but let us know how you worked it out. This problem comes up a lot on our quilts..... Jane

sewbizgirl

Thanks, Jane. Will keep that in mind. I'll be tackling the problem today!

givio

If your side borders aren't the same length (or your top/bottom border aren't the same length), and it's only 1 1/2" inches-- then I'd split the difference and ease in one side border and stretch the other side border. Over the length of the quilt, its only 3/4"! That's not much for a bed size quilt. Usually for a border I measure the center of the quilt and go with that length, rather than measure the edge. That keeps the top flatter. If you don't mind the quilt not being squared up, just go with it. No one is going to notice your spacers. You put them on the ends, right?

If you have 3 short borders, I'd take out the good one and ease in the same fillers on it as the other 3, so that all 4 borders match.

sewbizgirl

Yes, the spacers are on the ends. It's a big quilt, so it shouldn't be noticeable laying on a bed. You aren't going to see all 4 borders at once. I just want this puppy finished.

happylab

Yes I'm still lurking from the side lines. I've pulled my fabric, but have not started blocks or cutting yet. It's a next year project.

I enjoy see everyone's project. My redoing the BHMQ from last year is taking a lot of my quilting time. I'm 1/3 of the way done on that. Then I will start on this years mystery. I've pulled the fabric and cut a couple of the clues. So far only 2 weeks behind. Plan to catch up before the end of the year. Back to ripping.

sewbizgirl

Good news! My last two side borders fit perfectly! And I figured I probably could re-press that one short border and 'coax' a little more length out of it. There's a lot of bias movement in those borders, the way they are cut and set. Really helps with fitting! So I took the one short border off, removed the spacers, and pressed it well. Then it fit! So all 4 borders fit without spacers needed anywhere. Whew! I've never done a border like this before and I learned a lot. It was a great project. After quilting, the binding will be another dark red like the small stop border.

I tried and tried to post pics for you, but the site is not uploading them. I reduced their size to 1.19mb, which is plenty small enough, but they still won't upload. Phooey. Will try again later.

sewbizgirl

I think it was my internet connection that was giving me trouble. Grrrr....

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sewbizgirl

Can you guess my favorite 3 blocks in this quilt? What are your favorites?

retiredteacher09

Sewbizgirl: Your quilt is absolutely beautiful!

Connie

givio

lol
Fussy cut top left, very blue block with blue background in the center, and lower left brown/blue star.

Is this my guess, or my favorites? :-p

Upper right is nice, the fussy cut flag is nice, and the double pinks are nice. How to choose??!