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HELP!! What do I do with this?? UPDATE


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UPDATE: I spoke with my customer tonight and she is going to pick up the top on Monday to take it home to fix. The finished quilt was going to be donated to a church raffle, so she's bringing me a replacement top (also a lonestar) to quilt in its place. Fingers crossed that there are no issues with the replacement top. I have quilted a baby lonestar for this customer in the past and it was perfect, so this might all end well. Thanks again, everyone, for your support. :)

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I have a large (92" x 102") lonestar quilt on my frame, and there is so much fullness in the corner squares and borders I just don't know what to do with it.

I have 4 photos which I'll post here to show what I mean - all were taken without moving the quilt top. To keep the vertical and horizontal seams of the star running straight and true means handfuls of extra fabric at the borders!

Any advice that anyone has to offer will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

This first picture shows how pretty the star itself is.

post--13461909029411_thumb.jpg

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Send. It. Back.

To preserve your sanity and your reputation--show your customer the problem areas and your solutions for remedying them. This will involve removing the borders and maybe the corner squares. While it's on the frame you can do some helpful marking with chalk where she needs to reduce the volume of fabric. In the big dark corners, decide which seam needs taken in. Smooth the fabric of the square and work all the extra fabric toward that one seam until the big block is flat. Fold the excess fabric over the seam and mark the dark block right on top of the seam. That will be her new stitching line. Does that make sense? The block won't be square but it will be flat. Give her instructions on how to measure, trim, and re-attach the bad borders. Remember though, if her measurements are off by a lot, easing and stretching the borders to fit so the top is square will only add to the problem. Better to measure each side, cut borders to match, sew them well and have an un-square top--that way it can be quilted and used, even if it isn't a perfect square.

I'm sending good thoughts and a bucket of quilter's magic dust--you're gonna need it!:P;):P

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I used to do these star quilts for a lady. They were consistently 4-8" smaller in the center than the outer edges. I folded over fabric & stitched w/invisible thread to get something to lay flat. She still hasn't paid me for the last two. Guess I won't have to worry about doing any more of her quilts. LOL

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.......or you can add a whole bunch of poofy batting to the borders and distance a few piano keys here and there ,just a little humor for a stressed out situation ,lol . When I first started this wild idea of purchasing a longarm the very first thing I learned here was all about friendly borders wavy all the time

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Thanks, everyone.

Linda, yes your instructions make perfect sense - thank you! I also appreciate the bucket of magic dust that's on its way! :D

Vicki, you made me laugh! "YIKES" was my first reaction, too, followed up by several "HOLY MOLYs"! :P

I've left a message for my customer and am hoping she'll call soon. I have lots of other tops that I could be working on! I'll post an update once I've spoken with her.

Thanks again for the support. The people on this forum are the best.

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Oh gosh! Do what they said! Sometimes you can fix it, sometimes you can't. I have said all along that most quilts with all the extra border fabric is never seen laid out flat on the floor, hence, the piecer does not realize how nearly impossible it is for us to quilt. She will understand when she sees it!! Good luck!

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Guest Linda S

Yipes! I agree with Linda. Send it back with pics to have her fix it, or tell her you'll fix it for a minimum of like $50/border. That WILL NOT QUILT OUT.

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