A Lesson Learned

I've had full permission to tell you about this.
Long ago, Linda used to make quilts but, like many, hasn't tackled one for years. Inspired by an upcoming Diamond Wedding Anniversary, and the urge to gift something very special, she embarked on this journey... and she's enjoyed it very much. 
Almost every week she's been popping in to my wonderful shop, bubbling with enthusiasm, for a conference about the next round, design possibilities and fabric choices then leaving with a good/great idea and perfect new fabrics.
Excited to crack on with the quilting, a sandwich session was booked.
We did all the prep... taping and clipping the backing to the table TNT (Taut Not Tight!)... smoothing out the wadding and teasing it out to get a great even result... Then, starting in the centre of the quilt top, we smoothed out in preparation for the hand basting as this beauty will be hand quilted.

Can you see what we discovered?
Did you measure the borders Linda?...
Oh dear, she forgot about that technical information.

We talked and decided that it was going to be easier in the long run, to get that all corrected before proceeding. A blow to the enthusiasm but Linda did it. Unpicked the offending borders, obviously not all of them, the last thin border had been stitched to the bias of the triangle, (that was the main problem) and then the piano keys, all  re-measured and re-attached.

Now, I'm not telling you this to criticize, not to Name and Shame at all... it's to remind you to ALWAYS measure your quilt through the centre to make sure your borders are the correct size. Just stitching on a border without that little but very important step can lead to very wavy edges.

Just one week later, having removed and re-measured and discovering that there was about 6 inches of extra border on each side... YES 6"!!! A sandwich has now been made and it's all beautiful and flat... so the Hand Quilting can begin. Hat's off to Linda for persevering.