LESSON LEARNED

Sew, I have been diligently trying to complete my flannel quilt which I started a year ago (yikes!!).

Remember? 

I wanted to get the quilt completed in time for camping, as I hate the bed cover that is currently in our travel trailer. If I got the quilt completed, I would not have to go out and purchase a new bed spread and I could save myself a little money.  Plus, I want a little homemade goodness for the road!  I finished the block piecing a few weeks ago, but the top was not as big as I had hoped.  It only measured out to 48x58, and it needs to be large enough to top a queen sized bed.  

I had already utilized a majority of my flannel fabric that I had purchased a few summers ago while on vacation in Alaska, and I knew I only had a limited amount of fabric left for the borders. I really didn't want to have to purchase additional fabric and I was planning on machine quilting the top myself in order to keep cost low. Basically, I was being cheap!

After several calls and emailing pictures of different possibilities for the borders to my cousin, Linda, we came up with a final conclusion!  Yeah!  But, I had to be very careful in my measuring and cutting, as I had very little room for error. I had enough burgundy fabric to make 7" outside borders. 

I was proud of myself, as I measured twice and then cut!  I had just enough fabric to complete my strips, and I had less than 2" left to spare! Perfect!

Immediately after I started sewing, I realized I would only be able to mitered three of the four borders, because I would not have enough fabric.  Sew, I held my breath, crossed my fingers AND quickly squared off my last strip. Whew...I made it by a thread, literally! While it wasn't perfect, it was good enough to place into our travel trailer and who would know I cheated perfection in order to save a few dollars.

I had a little victory dance, then laid the quilt top on the floor to admire my finished project, AND...

immediately noticed the nap of the fabric didn't match!  Crap!  I was so worry about making sure my borders fit that I spaced (a.k.a. had a brain fart) and did not make sure the outer strips were all going in the same direction. I'm so bummed, but after some reassurance from my fellow Wine/Quilting Buddies, I decided to disguise the fabric discoloring by sending it to my long-arm quilter to work her wonders.  Well, so much for saving a few dollars. Lesson learned!