Sharonarooni Posted September 14, 2014 Report Posted September 14, 2014 Hi, Everyone, There is always so much info here, so I thought I would give it a try. :0) What you do when you have a client quilt that has mitered borders that are severely not square? Do you give it back or try to fix it? I have a feeling she will say just go ahead and quilt it, but the corners will end up being 45 degree arrows or huge tucks. Either one will look terrible as it is solids. Any suggestions on it? Thanks for any help. Sharon
ffq-lar Posted September 14, 2014 Report Posted September 14, 2014 If the corners are full rather than short (border waving as opposed to center looking like a parachute) you can lay the quilt corner out and pin the extra fabric underneath the seam. Just manipulate it until the seam is pointing to the corner as it should be, and the corner is perfectly flat. If the seam has been pressed open, clip it next to the intersection at the corner so you can lay the extra fabric under and with both seam allowances going in the same direction. Pin in several spots and when it's loaded, use a long basting stitch on the longarm to top-stitch down the new seam. This basting line will be removed after quilting and your customer can hand-stitch it down like an applique. You may end up with extra ears of fabric behind and outside the regular edge of the border, but that will be something your customer will fix when she trims the quilt for binding. I advise that you communicate with your customer before you do the fix. Gently tell her of the problem and your plan to fix it. Let her know it will be difficult to leave it as-is and get a good result. Tell her you will charge her $5 (or whatever you want) per corner for you to fix it and the other option is to have her take it back and fix it herself. Short version: A piecing problem is ultimately up to the customer to fix. You will charge if you have to fix it. You can't guarantee the end-result if you quilt it as-is. It's up to you if you want to continue without a fix.
Zora Posted September 14, 2014 Report Posted September 14, 2014 If the corners are too big..creating points, I fix them because in the end it is faster than fighting with them. If they are too small, creating rounded corners, that is more trouble than I want to deal with and I would call the client for extra fabric or a re-do. I charge either a fee, or up the square inch charge a bit. Depends on whether it is a regular client, but I do heavy custom so rarely work within a budget.
T Row Studio Posted September 15, 2014 Report Posted September 15, 2014 Good advice ladies I will keep this in mind if I run into this problem. This forum is awesome there is always somebody with some good advise
Sharonarooni Posted September 15, 2014 Author Report Posted September 15, 2014 I completely understand, Linda! It was my first instinct to keep laying that fabric under to get a flat border. I just wasn't sure if that was even remotely legal. Lol I will call her tomorrow and see if this is agreeable. I have a feeling it will be. It is a nice Double Irish Chain and should be fun to quilt once I get past the border business. And thank you Zora, too. I knew this forum would come through. You guys are the best support system!!! Sharon
GMALKB Posted September 15, 2014 Report Posted September 15, 2014 I did a couple quilts for an elderly friend. They were to be used as bedspreads.........the mitered corners were way off and I knew would look terrible, plus they would be a nighmare to quilt. So, I just unstitched her corners and made them more "square". I never told her and the quilts looked nice on their beds. I ended up removing several inches of fabric from those corners. As I said, she is an elderly friend, but if it had been a customer, I would have said something or had them fix the corners. My friend did a nice job of piecing, but not on her mitered corners. This same lady is terrible about measuring her quilt top and cutting the borders to size. She starts with a long strip, sews it on, cuts it off at the bottom and just keeps going. Almost always her borders are too full and the corners are elongated. So, at quilt group, we steer her away from sewing on borders unless we measure and cut them to size AND pin them on for her. She has a heart of gold and we wouldn't offend her for the world.
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