shelleywa Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 I will try and post some photos of some backing fabric which was really badly cut from the bolt at a shop. I had to trim so much off to square it properly; it was such a waste. Has anyone had one this bad? Shelley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelleywa Posted February 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 Had to post another as could't load more than one picture! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelleywa Posted February 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 Last one, although there are more! Shelley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melanie Rouse Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 I may be hopelessly out of fashion, but I quit squaring my backs a long time ago. I fold the selvege edges together and move them back and forth until it hangs without any wrinkles. Then I pin the centers and let the other sides fall where they may. It makes the process go a lot quicker and is just as accurate, in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelleywa Posted February 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 With this particular backing, there was no choice BUT to square it, it was so uneven all around! I always trim the top and bottom edges which I pin to the canvas, and if the side edges are VERY uneven, I will also trim these as if I don't, I find my side clamps don't slide on as easy ( I use featherlight clamps), and the sides sag. If the sides are reasonably straight, I don't bother trimming them. Shelley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nora123 Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 I do the same as Melanie. very fast and a lot less frustration. Nora Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoriasews Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 I find some backings, the large ones of at least 108 inches, impossible to square. If I tear it so it is on grain, sometimes I get a parallelogram, not a square, so I quilt squaring, too. I just try to cut it so it hangs straight. I think muslin is the worst for being woven wonkily. I have actually had backs, that by the time I square them, are too small for the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stagecl Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 I'm with Melanie and Victoria on this one too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janice Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 O:k, so I am a newby. I thought all of the backs had to be squared. Last week I got backing and I told the girl she didn't have it straight on her table. She said, It will be o'k, I gave me a couple extra inches. It is a good thing I had asked for extra because I did straighten it and it was just what I needed. I sure didn't have any extra. I, guess, I need to know how to put on an uneven backing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 I don't square backings unless I don't have a choice. I don't use zipper leaders, so I just pin to where it lays flat, as long as one end is fairly straight I don't have much trouble at all. Occasionally I will get one that is not very square and is barely big enough, but that is another story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona-quilter Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 I do square the backing. I want to know what and how much backing I am dealing with. I have also found that some of the wide backs are the wonkiest. They come off the looms that way, get put on a bolt, the shops cut them as they come off the bolt and we get wonky. The worst one I've had so far was a Moda. When I get one of those, I call the customer to advise her and then I talk to the LQS. The next time somebody wants a wide back she warns them that they better buy more as the backing is not square. The ones that chap my hide are the pieced backings. Some piecers leave the selvage on the seams of the pieced backing. Or the seam is so tiny, it is impossible to spread when ironing it. I had an orange backing last week and the piecers seamed it carelessly and some of the white selvage showed on the right side of the backing. It stuck out like a sore thumb. Grrr. I give my clueless piecers a break and seam it for them. Hey, the quilt has my name on it, too. I usually take a one inch seam, then cut off the selvage and press the seam open. It lays so nice and flat that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 I'm another quilter who doesn't square backs. I encourage the customers to bring the wide backing with the selvedges still on then do the folding trick Melanie mentioned. It generally works very well. The edges may be dreadful but the bit that matters is fine. I absolutely hate having to pin a cut edge to a leader. I very rarely do it as that is when the cutting errors cause trouble. Ferret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinneaMarie Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 I try to square them up a tad. I'm with you Linda. I've had several that the backs are pieced and the leave the selvage on!! Hello!!! What happened to BASIC sewing lessons! I mean, I learned about cutting off selvages and squaring up fabric in 4-H when I was bout 10 years old! One lady brought me a quilt that was pieced with the selvage as the straight edge. She said she took lessons at a local quilt shop and they said you did not have to take the edge off. I told her those big holes a long the selvage would never wash out and the selvage would shrink more than the rest of the fabric and cause puckers. Now she cuts that selvage OFF!! I tell my customers to leave the selvage on ONLY if it is the outside edge. Then like Ferret, I can pin or baste it to my zippers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lib Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 I try to square my backing up but find with some backings it usually works best if I start off with one end straight which I attach to my top leader. I then don't worry too much about the other end so long as it is runing straight on my rollers. Does that make sense? I have one lady who always skimps on her backing so I try and waste as little as possible when I do load her quilts. Lib Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 I have had a few "VERY WONKY" backers that I could not square by tearing on the grain; it only got wonkier on me and then I started getting nervous. If I can, I just pin the selvage side to the leaders and let the uneven part be on the sides. It is a PITA to deal with these uneven backers, though. I don't think the customers realize the issue we have to deal with. Fortunately (for me) this has been the exception, not the norm . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doodlebug Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 i do a combination of the way melanie, liam, and ferret do it. i ask my customers to leave the selavges on the edges i will be pinning, and i tell them to buy 1/4 - 1/2 yard extra on the 108"+ backings.... i also think it is developing an eye for it....the more quilts you quilt, the more problems you see, and you start to recoginize the pattern.... hey whatever it takes to make it work, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 Blooming typical. The very next quilt in line after saying I pin selvedges to my leaders had to be done the other way. Fortunately it was fairly square and very oversize. It's done now anyway, so on to the next one. Any bets on how I have to load this? Actually if I remember correctly this one has a pieced back which is too small. The owner has said she will trim up to whatever size I manage to quilt. She is a very good customer so I put up with it. She can't get her head around a back that is bigger than the quilt top. Ferret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chocoholic Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 Ferret, I was just going to write and say that I don't know how people get backs where they can always pin the selvages to the leaders. My customers aren't always that obliging ;-). And when they aren't I have to square. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 The vast majority I get can be mounted the way I want. The one I've just loaded is a challenge. Pieced flannel front and back and no square edges anywhere. I will just bill for the hassle and she will pay <shrug> I've explained but she would rather do it this way. Ferret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoryJM Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 I don't square either. I basically do the same as Melanie and then I staple to the zipper on the quilt roll up bar. I then use the fabric advance to advance the back far enough to staple to the backing bar. I staple however is necessary to keep the backing square with machine. So far this has worked for me and I've not had any issues with the back... Once I started doing this, I cut my loading time in half! Heidi turned me on to the staples and I haven't looked back since! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladybugquilting Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 I don't square either and forget getting a piece to tear straight much less hardly cut straight anymore I just try to eye it straight and it almost always comes out just as I wanted it to.. I have some that just want to send a backing exactly the size of the top and theres no way to make this come out right no matter how many times you tell some that the backing has to be larger than the top it just doesn't register.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseCity Quilter Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 As well as longarming, I own a quilt store (we celebrated our 10th anniversay last weekend!) and I must say that until I started longarming I did not understand the importance of backing being square, nor did I really realize how terribly foleded the 108" backings are. It is impossible for a shop to cut them straight the way they come folded on the bolt. Since I started longarming in June, after cutting several backs too small to use due to thier wonkiness, we started tearing the wide backs rather than cutting them (the only fabric in the store we tear) and it seams to have solved the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 Ardelle I use a lot of 108" backings and can't cut them straight from the bolt either, tearing works the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dar Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 I work parttime at a quilt shop and we tear all widebacking too. Since I am now longarm quilting, I can tell most customers who want the same widith back as their top, that if they are giving it to a longarmer, they need to add at least 4" all around the measurements of the top. This has helped our local longarmers and they recommend to their customers to come to our shop to get their backings. It has been good for everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shea Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 hey there, can someone please explain what stapeling your quilt on means? what does that look like? i am a newby and want to know as much as possible about loading quilts as that just seems to take a long time for me. thanks , from the low country, shea w Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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