Taut and saggy sandwich

[ramona-quilter]

I seem to have this problem with my quilt sandwich. I use

zippers. The quilt is square. The back is square. I zip it

on and roll up take-up, belly and quillt top rollers carefully

so I don't have any bunch-ups or puckers. Then I insert the

batting and lay it on top of the backing so I can baste (float)

the batting onto the backing.

That's when I notice that the left side backing is droopy

whereas the right-side is taut. This happens 3 out of 4

quilts. You would think that I would get puckers, but no. I

just have to play with it to keep it taut on the left. It is

definitely more work.

My question is, do you think that the loose left side backing

is causing by a stretched canvas? or is something else going

wrong?

[SherryRogers]

Sounds like your canvas needs straightening. I just did mine not to long ago. Renee wrote a very good article in Unlimited Possibilities. You may also want to check that your poles are spaced evenly from end to end. Mine were off by 1/2" when I checked.

[The Crafty Unicorn]

Sherry,

What do you mean by poles? Are you saying the rollers aren't parallel? I'm having the same "quirk". It seems worst when I have lots of extra backing fabric. I was blaming it on my rolling, since it is the far end (away from the handles) that was the problem.

Leslie

PS I also use zippers, but try to straighten my leaders about once a month.

[dtreusch]

I was having a similar problem. I thought it was the way I was loading the quilt until I figured out that it occured only on quilts where the batting is smaller than the backing by more than a couple of inches on either or both sides. The sagging was because the batting/backing take up more bulk on the back roller than just the backing as you advance the quilt.

I tucked a piece of batting in the back roller to take up the excess where there was no batting. Problem no longer exists.

Debbi

[Grammie]

I need to get my better squared as well.

I found the center of the canvas and that was my first mistake as each canvas from roller to roller are not the same. I am making it work until I relocate at which time I plan to redo them all on a perfect center. I would like a heavier canvas I think. If knot I think I will use a stablizer for about 14 inches on edges before putting new zippers and I am going to HEM the sides one fold. Easier said than done as this will take time.

I have since remarked using the ouside of the pole. I am off almost an inch so I can accomadate this when pinning the Zippers. Having extra backing is a big help with this situation.

[ramona-quilter]

Sherry,

I will check out those rollers today. Thanks for the tip. I just

signed up for the magazine, is that article Renee Hadicky?

Leslie,

A monthly routine to straighten the canvas is also a good

idea. Mine seems to get so twisted. I wonder how long a

canvass set is supposed to last.

Debbi,

Sticking in piece of extra batting may work after I start rolling

the quilt. But my sagging problem starts before I even baste

the floated quilt. So the take-up roller doesn't even have a

full turn on it yet. The takeup looks ok, the quilt and batting

are square and evenly pinned. But when I tighten up the

roller, the right is tight, the left is loosy goosy. I just have

to be vigilant about keeping it straight by pinning as I go.

I am glad that it is not 'just me' that is havng this problem.

I was afraid my machine was wacky.

and evenly

[countrystitcher]

Hello Everyone, my name is Sharon from southern Iowa.

I'm finally on the chatroom - been trying for several weeks. Thanks to Grammie who keyed me in the right direction. I am a newbie since March. Purchased a Discovery "Hope" from APQS and we are still bonding. I've done 4 customer quilts and have 4 waiting. Every quilt is a learning experience that's for sure. I too have recently been having a saggy backing on one side. I always try and stretch my canvas after every quilt (as Dawn Cavanaugh taught me) and I usually let the leaders hang for a few hours before entering a new quilt. Anyone else have suggestions? Thanks to you all for such great support on this chatroom. Coffee @ 10:00am every morning gets me in the mood (yuk and I have to sit and do insurance until 5.)

[Guest Linda S]

As Sherry said, get the latest edition of Unlimited Possibilities - it has an article by Renae Haddadin that will tell you how to straighten out your leaders. You can order an issue at www.upquiltmag.com

Linda

[jeri]

Ramona, I roll the backing all the way back and forth a couple of times before I put the batting on The last time I carefully smooth it on the front roller. It seems to just even out everything. I have no idea why it works but I haven't had a saggy backing since I started doing that. I saw the suggestion on a forum post a couple of years ago, not sure which forum. jeri

[Spi-Cap]

Sure glad I came on to-day and read Linda in Ramonas post. I was having the same problem. Didn't happen on all the quilts just some. I had my zippers zip together that the backing goes on and the left side was not straight, pulling more to the front. Was going to straighten the canvas today but decidec to come here and see if anyone else was having the same problem. Read Sherry's reply, went and checked my poles and sure enough I was out. Fixed that and now my zippers zip toghether are straight. I was not looking forward to straightening the canvas again. Thank you Linda for posting this, and Thank you Sherry you saved me alot of work. I never would of thought to check the poles. I must come on here more often. Right now I have alot of reading to catch up on.

[quiltaholi_518]

It happens to me too, but I just roll the backing to and fro on the rollers and it evens out. Also once in a while, I zip the leaders together and roll back and forth. After I do that, I don't have the problem for a while. Then when It starts happening again, I know I need to zip the leaders together again and straighten them out. No biggie, really. And I checked my rollers are parallel (sp?)