D cup quilt top

I was asked "What is a D cup top?" and I thought I would answer here instead of in a comment reply.  I can use this post as the first one in a tutorial about doing D cup quilt tops.

You've read me type-talk about quilts with friendly borders.  Friendly borders are when there is so much extra fullness to the border that it waves a lot.  Well a D cup top is the opposite.  The borders are much smaller than the center area.  See the curve in it?

Think of a bra.  The fabric part that is next to your chest is flat and hugs your body.  That would be the border.  The fabric part that goes over the breasts has extra fullness to cover it.  That's the cup size.  Of course you know that part already but how is this quilt a D cup top?

When I get quilt tops with borders smaller than the top, I grade the fullness in the center by cup size.  An A cup is a little extra fullness in the center and is easily quilted out.  B cup is a little more fullness in the center but still manageable with quilting.  C cup is more fullness and is somewhat difficult to quilt out.  D cup is the maximum amount of fullness in the top I feel confident I can work out with a quilting design.  Anything larger and I would ask the owner to fix the borders.  I can expect a D cup top to require a lot of fussing and fiddling to get it done.  Extra hours of work but no extra pay for it.

On occasion I do quilt some tops that are larger than a D cup but those are usually inherited tops the owner simply wants quilted so it can be cherished.   Or they might be tops done by a handicapped person who has done the best they can already.  Or the tops might be done by a senior, senior.  I have one customer I quilted for, for many years.  I quilted one for her a few months ago and she is 92 years old.  

I shouldn't have waited so long about getting this one on the machine.  It's due to be finished by Friday, including the binding and a hanging sleeve.  Instead of spending time on the computer figuring out the problems or having company stay all day three days in a row, I should have started on this quilt.  Now I'm paying the price for waiting until the last minute.  Really, I should have checked it sooner.  

I can finish it on time.... only if that's all I do for a few days.  No cooking, no cleaning, no gardening, no company.  I let the answering machine pick up for me and I put a "do not disturb" sign on the front door.  My only computer time will be to briefly check my email or to write a quick blog post.  If there is something urgent in my email, I answer, otherwise it will wait until the quilt is finished.  

I'll write the tutorial posts about quilting a D cup top as soon as this quilt is finished.  My supper is ready and there is more quilting time before bedtime.