Last time I told you about Robin’s bedspread top, but what I didn’t tell you was that she wanted it cut 79″ x 81″ to fit the bed top.  And, this will be for a customer of hers.  So, not only did I need to worry about making sure my customer was happy with the finished product, I was now also making sure it was good for her customer (double-edged sword).  I was nervous about cutting this exactly as measured.  You know how one mistake can mess it all up…

So, I took out my trusty laser square to help me get the measurements exact and not skewered, with one end longer than the other or wonky with curved lines.  The first thing I did was get close to the edges of where I quilted and put my 12 1/2 inch ruler in that corner (you can see the ruler in the upper right hand of the picture).  Then I took my laser square and lined up the laser lines with the cuts I had made.

I proceeded to cut along the laser lines with my long ruler and rotary cutter until I got to the middle of the sides. For the top end, I used my 12 1/2″ square ruler to start the other long side and then I would use my laser square to get down those long sides.  When I got to the bottom end of the “quilt” I then put my laser square at that end to join the lines and proceeded to cut from there.  I measured the sides several times along the way to make sure I was meeting the exact measurements of 79″ across.  And, then I moved the laser square to the other end and started to cut across the bottom in the same manner after I’d measured to be sure I had 81″ along each side.

I am not sure where I got my laser square, because I’ve had it for awhile now, but I’m pretty sure I got it at Home Depot.  My husband is not handy, so he would not have one of these in his tools,  But, if your significant other is handy, look in his/her toolbox for one of these before purchasing it yourself.  I have found this to be a huge help to me many times.  It’s definitely worth the $42.97 that Home Depot charges for it.

Oh, one more thing…  After all this measuring, I took this to my client’s house (yes, I travel to my clients to make it convenient for them) and we measured this folded in half the long way.  It measured 78″ folded.  Talk about sweating bullets!!!  Oh my gosh, I thought I was going to faint right then and there.  We then unfolded it and it measured 79″.  So, it just goes to show you how rolling or folding quilts in any manner, to include on a quilting machine frame, can make your quilt shrink up or appear to shrink up.  :-\