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Help/advice about a quilting problem


CyndiC

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I am quilting a king size quilt for someone on my Millie.  As i have gotten down to the last row and ghost row there are wrinkles in the quilt top and bottom border that i can't smooth out. I am talking lots of large wrinkles. What is wrong? What can I possibly do to fix this and to prevent it from happening again? I am desperate here.

 

Thanks in advance,

Cyndi

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One possibility from personal experience...and I usually float my tops.

As you advance your quilt, are you engaging your channel locks at the top edge of your quilt and coming down towards the belly bar? If you are even quilting a medium density, the quilt tends to draw up a bit from the quilting so with each advance the bottom can become a slight bit narrower. If there are lots of advanced, like with a king size quilt, the amount can be a challenge.

What works for me when I float a top is to put a long strip of painters tape on the quilt top bar, near my belly. After I stitch my quilt to the back, at the beginning, I use my channel locks to make sure everything is lined up, then I mark the tape for the quilt edges, side borders and maybe every 6", or the seams between blocks, whichever seems most reasonable. As I advance my quilt everything stays in line and I never have excess unless the quilt wasn't square to begin with and I can usually "quilt that out" while keeping everything lined up.

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Are you floating the quilt top?? Did you check the borders before you put the quilt on the frame? Maybe the problem was with the construction. But this problem is why I never float tops. That roller and canvas are on there for a reason. I know, I know...other people float tops all the time. It takes maybe 8 minutes to pin the top on the roller. It takes time to constantly fool with the quilt every roll, too. I find it actually saves nothing. The only time I float is with a seriously wonky quilt. If it's wonky when I get it, it's gonna be wonky when they get it back.

You didn't say if this is a panto or not. Are you basting your sides as you roll...both sides? Doing pantos tends to push the quilt around and a puffier batting adds to the problem.

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