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Please help me tame the cups! TA DA Finished Scroll down for pics


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I took this quilt off Millie today.  "Ta Da" quickly turned into "uh oh".  It's got cups.  The quilt top was perfect.  The cups are the result of my quilting.   :angry:

 

post-4164-0-52520700-1427314138_thumb.jpg  close up  post-4164-0-13150700-1427314156_thumb.jpg

 

There is one large scale quilting motif in the body.  It's a diamond shape that combines a light and dark triangle set.  There is SID between the diamonds, right through the center of the cup.  I thought that would prevent the cups, but obviously not.

 

Here's what it looks like from the back.  post-4164-0-08096000-1427314185_thumb.jpg

 

I'm wondering if I put it back on the machine and stitch a circle connecting the diamond points where it's cupping, will that tame the cup?  Here's a picture of what I'm talking about.  The black circle is where I would stitch.  post-4164-0-89666100-1427314255_thumb.jpg

 

My other solution would be to stitch pearls or ribbon candy in the diamond outline spaces, but that's a lot to add and it's important to keep this quilt flat and square for my customer.  I put big scale feathers in the borders that might not balance well if I add too much smaller stitching in the body.

 

Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

The batting is QD wool.  SID thread is invisafil.  Motifs and feathers are quilted with glide top and bottom.

 

Thanks

 

 

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Please don't beat yourself up about this. There's no way to "quilt" cups into piecing unless it's full before hand. I suspect that the bias edges of the triangles and the extra fabric (seam allowances) behind the center intersections are what has added to the problem. You have a circle of lots of extra fabric (plus the wool batting) under that intersection, which is hard to flatten. That's why it has such a nice round look. :wacko:

 

Your SID through the centers would have been my first suggestion. Obviously that just pushed the excess into a smaller area. You can split the difference there and stitch a line from each point of your quilting to the opposite point and back to the center--then a line across the next two, and the final two. But I suspect that it will not flatten it out any more for you.

 

Second suggestion would be blocking, taking special care that the problem areas are patted down. Suggest that your customer use some spray starch or Best Press on those areas, cover with some plastic wrap, and place a book on top to flatten things a bit. When it's dry it should stay flat until the starch is washed out. Too bad you couldn't try the "hit it with a hammer" trick before you started.

 

Third suggestion---fluffing in the dryer (no heat) might puff up the wool batting so it's not so noticeable.

 

Fourth--sew a button onto those intersections. Not my favorite idea though...

 

Your quilting is wonderful! Don't take on the blame for this. It's the dynamics of fabric weave and extra layers---not something that you stitched into it.

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I just had this same thing happen with my QD Wool batting on my son's quilt. I quilted rays coming from a center point and it cupped at the center point. My top was perfectly flat before; I believe the extra stitching distorts the area; I stitched mine in both directions. I plan on getting it flat by washing and blocking and I think they will easily tame. If you want it flat before your customer gets it; I would try misting those areas and laying the quilt flat and patting them out. See if they will stay down; and if not, can you weight it a bit with something? Or try steaming them flat, but wait until they are cool and dry before folding up the quilt. Good luck and let us know what you did! Beautiful quilting; looks great.

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If the bulkiness of the seams coming together is part of the cause I would try steaming the area and then giving it a good thwack!  I have a mallet that I use and it is amazing how much difference it makes to bulky seams.  Linda mentioned the hammer trick too.  It works!

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As a guy and an old car enthusiast...I am intrigued by the "hammer trick". As all guys know there are two indispensible tools; Duct tape and hammers!  :D

So how does this work? Dampen the area and then whack it? I assume this is either before or after it is on the frame? 

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When I am piecing tops that have a lot of seams coming together causing too much bulk I use the hammer trick.  I hit the area with a burst of steam and then hit the seams to flatten them.  I haven't tried this after I have quilted but don't see why it shouldn't work.  The quilt would need to be on a firm surface.  

 

I use one of these, not a regular hammer.  https://www.piecesbewithyou.com/shop/product/Wkr/

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Ta Da!  Light steaming on a hard surface with a big square ruler for a little flat weight on top while it cooled improved the cups.  I'll let my customer know that she can block it to fully tame the cups if they become obnoxious.

 

It really is a pretty quilt.  

 

I had hoped that the big diamond shapes would show as big stars or big cubes.  But I see now that the top was so busy that effect is lost.  It's more visible on the back, but did not photograph well.

 

post-4164-0-22602000-1427403196_thumb.jpg post-4164-0-64964400-1427403218_thumb.jpg post-4164-0-49463800-1427403242_thumb.jpg

 

and the back   post-4164-0-87653600-1427403274_thumb.jpg post-4164-0-29268000-1427403302_thumb.jpg

 

Thanks for your support!  It's been over a year ago that I asked for quilting ideas.  I got a great response from many of you, that helped me create the designs.  Love this forum!

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To add a little about the quilt design.  Before starting, I loaded a practice piece, marked off the triangles and stitched out the diamond design with my IQ recording.  

 

When the quilt was loaded, I worked on the body first, before the borders.  I find that when I do one border, then the body, by the time I get to the bottom border I can't remember what the top looked like!  Pictures don't help enough.  So, I stabilized two rows at a time, with SID.  

 

Then I let IQ stitch the diamonds in two directions.  The third direction was too tall to be stitched until I turned the quilt, so those waited.

 

The borders are two different widths.  It was loaded with the small borders ready to quilt first.  Those were done freehand, with the vine or path chalked on.  

 

After the quilt was turned, those wider borders were difficult to do freehand.  I ended up drawing the bigger feathers first.  Thank goodness I had the presence of mind to record while stitching those.  I used that recording (after cleaning it up and tweaking to fit) to stitch the final border.  Whew! 

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