My long arm quilter squares it up for me, so I've never done it myself. But there are youtube videos demonstrating how to square and trim prior to binding. You'll want to check them out. The slight variance in stitching around the edge won't be a problem. Any edge stitching that remains after you square will get hidden in the binding. For any stitching that doesn't get hidden you can either leave as is (if it blends in and looks like part of the quilting) or you can pick out any stray stitches. Since you are using 2.5" for your binding, I suspect it will all get hidden.

Your quilt looks awesome!

I always make the outside border about 1/4 inch wider than I want it to finish. Then I use my 6 x 24 inch ruler and measure from the first or second seam from the edge (those are usually straighter than the edge) and trim, move the ruler, trim. Square at the corners and continue.

So, you make your cut line by squaring up to the border?

bkay

Here is an example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeYAOkl55NY

Thanks, I'm so glad I asked. I was about to take the scissors to it. The video explained it perfectly.

On second thought, I think I will take the scissors and trim it down. On one side, it has 12" of batting and there is 4 inches extra on the backing.

bkay

The video explains it much better than I could.

It's not square. Now what?

I thought it was square. In fact, she mentioned how square it was when she took it in. Two corners are perfect and two are off. One is off 5/8 of an inch. other is probably 1/2" off.

I went back and measured the borders. They are within 1/16" in the width of the borders. When I measured for the borders, it was a 1/2 inch difference between the sides of the pieced top.

I can't help but think she pulled it out of square. Could I be imagining things?

I can't see a way to trim it that won't look weird.

bkay

Would it look weird to trim the entire border to 3"? Would it make it square? Edited to add: If you used the same blue for the binding, I don't think it would be noticed. In fact, not sure anyone would notice anyway. :-)

Is there a white border before the blue border? Are the two perfect corners on the same end/side or in opposite corners of each other?

There is a 2" white border, then a 3" blue border. Both are almost exactly the right size. The perfect ones are on the same side.

I could just trim it to 3", but it won't be straight. But if I cut it straight and square, the border will not be even and it will look crooked.

I still have plenty of the blue fabric. That's what I used for the back. I bought a blue floral for the binding, but didn't care for it after I got it. I thought it needed some yellow in it. The same blue for the binding would make it really BLUE.

I'll pull out the blue and see what it looks like.

bkay

It will be more noticeable if you don't square the corner, than if you do so and the borders aren't all exactly the same size. So, I'd square the corner. If you don't wish to shrink the corner too much, you can leave some of the batting and that edge of the top will have a slightly smaller seam allowance (so be careful how much batting you leave.) You can taper the edges slightly too.

And just so you know, even if your quilt is perfectly square when you send it to the LAQ, the quilting process can naturally stretch the top out of square, as can the LA quilter, no matter how professional she is.

I cannot even hazard a guess to your question, but WOW! from what I can see, that quilt is gorgeous!! please post a pic when you're done!

When it's hanging over the side of bed, do you notice that it's not square?