Sharonsews Posted July 11, 2004 Report Share Posted July 11, 2004 Hi, hope someone can help. Twice now I have measured at least 8 inches extra backing. When done, I sewed on my canvas because I ran out. (luckly still working on practice stuff). What am I doing wrong? Streching top to much? It's hard for me to understand how the bottom eats up so much fabric. I was doing pantos at the time. Starting out with more of a hate relationship with this machine. Any one else feel like they did a very expensive $$ mistake?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhintsa Posted July 11, 2004 Report Share Posted July 11, 2004 Which direction did you run out of backing-sides or top/bottom? Almost every book/video I have seen have stressed the importance of hand smoothing out from the center of the backing/batting on each roll of the quilt. Also to baste all sides. The top I machine baste when loaded (I float the entire top), pin baste sides as I go, and when get to bottom pin baste and then slowly machine baste across as I remove the pins. Also don't over tighten any of the fabric on the rollers. The layers should NOT be tight as a drum or so a quarter bounces off! Hope this is of some help. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharonsews Posted July 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2004 Let me see if I got you right. Since your floating the entire top, are you also basting the sides and bottom first and then rolling it back up on the bottom roller to start your panto? As you can see, I'm a real newbie. Thanks for your patience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhintsa Posted July 12, 2004 Report Share Posted July 12, 2004 Sharon, I am also a newbie so this may be a case of the blind leading the blind! But What I do is use safety pins to "pin baste" the sides of my quilt top and bottom. Then I roll the whole quit up and as I advance each section of the quilt, then I will either remove the pins on one side to start stitching (if stitching edge to edge, right off the quilt top). If doing block work or SID, I start stitching in the middle of section that is exposed to each side edge. Again I may just remove the pins when I get to the end or machine baste the side at this point, all depending on what type of quilting I am doing. The one quilt that I machine basted the side and bottom, then rolled the entire quilt and started quilting from the top down, I got puckers. I find pin basting to be more forgiving. This was a tip a very experience quilter gave me. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bstucker Posted July 12, 2004 Report Share Posted July 12, 2004 Sharon, Assuming that you measured that eight inches correctly, measure how far from the first stitching the line you stitched your top piece, maybe you used up too much there. I ususally ask for an extra six inches in length and width for the backing and haven't run out if that was measured properly. That should give you threei nches of play all the way around. I ususally take up about two or three inches when attaching the top to the batting and backing. A rule of thumb I use for how tight to make the backing and top is that there is enough "play" when I push my fingers into the sandwich from the backing side, to do handquilting. Does that make sense to you? Be patient with yourself; you are trying to get used to a lot of things at one time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darlene Epp Posted July 14, 2004 Report Share Posted July 14, 2004 This is something that has happened to most of us at one time or another. I think the biggest cause is overstretching the top. Here's a way to avoid this until you get used to how to judge the desired tautness of the 3 layers. Lay the quilt backing on the floor, and then lay the top over it, centering so you have the same amount of extra backing at both ends. Next, with either safety pins or a "tack gun", mark both the top & backing along one side at the same intervals, say 10" apart, along the whole length of the quilt. You don't have to measure, just make the markings at the same place on both the top & backing. Now when you advance the quilt, just make sure the side markings are lined up and you can quilt with confidence knowing both top & bottom have the same amount of tautness and you won't run out of backing fabric. BTW, the quilt sandwich should be only taut enough that there aren't wrinkles, BUT, there should not be any stretch to the fibres of the fabric. I hope that's clear enough. Sorry, no pictures available. Darlene Epp mailto:depp@allstream.net APQS Sales, Service & Supplies http://www.longarmsupplies.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierQuilts Posted July 14, 2004 Report Share Posted July 14, 2004 Sharon, I was about to post the same what Darlene wrote. I also use 3 inches all the way around and have not run into any problems. I use the marking with safety pins method whenever I have a quilt with a pieced back where borders have to line up with the top. At first it's a little tricky but once you get the hang of it , it's easy. When not floating the top and wrapping the quilt around the roller, which I like the best , I only tighten the top to the point where it does not stretch any fabric. If I have full blocks or borders, I baste them into place to get rid of them as I quilt. Small quilts are a lot easier to over tighten than large ones. A good way of telling if it is too tight is to poke your finger up from underneath the quilt and see if you can grab the tip of your finger. If you can't, then its too tight. As far as staying on track vertically, I mark both sides of the top and the inside seam of the first or second border on the pantograph plastic with a carpenters square and make sure that the laser lines up with my mark on each new row. Westville, IN / Millennium / DAQ12 Kathy & J?rgen Nittner Westville, IN / APQS Millennium / DAQ12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeri Posted July 15, 2004 Report Share Posted July 15, 2004 Sharon, are you using puffy batting? A thicker batting will use up more backing fabric as will flannel. If I'm doing a quilt with thick batting or flannel instead of asking for 4 to 6 inches all around I'll ask for at least 8 to 12 for one direction I'll be attatching to the leaders. jeri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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