Recalculate!

My Disappearing Shoofly Quilt of Valor has been sewn and I found a really cool border pattern and I thought it would be perfect since it has the same layout as my Disappearing Shoofly QOV, 4 x 5 for 12" blocks.  I cut the fabrics all at once since it was my intention to chain piece the units.

I don't usually cut all the fabrics at once.  Usually I make a sample to see how it goes together, and cut fabric as I go along.  I have miscut fabrics more then once, and it was a lesson I learned the hard way more than once.  This time, it was a little different.  Lucky for me, I laid out the units BEFORE I sewed them together.  I could see right away it was too long for the quilt.  How did this happen??  I checked the pattern, measured twice, cut once.  It should have worked.  The math and the measurements matched.  Hmmm.   LIGHTBULB!!  The border was patterned for 12" blocks.  My shoofly block STARTED out at 12", but then I cut it in quarters, rotated, resewed.  The new version of the block only measured at 11.5"!!  Well, better the border too big then too short.  And there was an easy fix.  Whew!  After recalculating, I could trim 1/2" from each of the "rail" units, and it would fit perfectly.  And it did!

I laid out the rest of the units into borders, sewed them, and here is the finished quilt top!

From start to finish, this quilt top only took 2 weeks to do! I think this is a new record! It measures 56" x 63".