Tori Spencer Posted October 20, 2011 Report Share Posted October 20, 2011 I seem to be having problems with keeping the left border (on the opposite side from the motor advance) straight and flat, while the right border is perfect. I can't put my finger on exactly why this is happening but it happens worse with large quilts, just a little with small ones. Am I turning the right side tighter than the left? Any helpful loading / advancing tips for me? T hanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisae Posted October 20, 2011 Report Share Posted October 20, 2011 Hi, Tori, Do you pin your quilt top to the top roller? It could be your leaders are stretched. Here is a link to a post from Tina Collins that walks you through how to straighten your leaders. Kim Brunner's DVD also has instructions. http://www.apqs.com/quiltboard/viewthread.php?tid=10195&page=1#pid92715 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tori Spencer Posted October 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2011 Thanks, Lisa. I'll try this to see if it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted October 20, 2011 Report Share Posted October 20, 2011 I would guess it has to do with the leaders as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sspingler Posted October 21, 2011 Report Share Posted October 21, 2011 I don't pin my tops to the take up roller. I put my backing and batting on then baste a straight line across the top and pin my top to that. If I need to fudge, I can do it then as I smooth the top out. I only do that partial float......pinning the bottom to the top leader. Clear as mud? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisae Posted October 21, 2011 Report Share Posted October 21, 2011 Sharon, I don't pin my tops to the take up roller, either. But if the top leader is not square, it could be pulling one side of the quilt more than the other. Tori, what happens if you do a full float, i.e., don't pin the bottom of the quilt top to the top leader? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tori Spencer Posted October 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2011 I just finished the large quilt that was giving me trouble, now I'm going to load a small one and try to float it, which I have never done. I don't see how I can get enough tension in the top of the quilt to get it to lay straight and flat if it's not pinned to a leader, but I will try it and see how it goes. Thanks to everyone for taking time to help me!! I really appreciate it! I'll report back after I've tried the floating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcclannan Posted October 22, 2011 Report Share Posted October 22, 2011 If you sew a straight line across your batting an backing and then tack the quilt top along that straight line you will have the same tension you have when you pin it to the take up leader. Give it a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tori Spencer Posted October 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2011 ok, I quilted a small quilt and just floated it and didn't pin it to a leader. It worked fine, I think until I got to the bottom edge and then it got a little loose and I didn't have a way to keep any tension on it. What do you go about the bottom? Again, thanks for the advice. I'm also watching what ever videos I can find about this subject on line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busy Quilting Posted October 23, 2011 Report Share Posted October 23, 2011 Tori, I usually pin the top close to the front roller with each roll of the quilt, just to make sure it is straight as you go, with about 6 pins So near the bottom do the same but with a lot more pins. Do it before you start to stich the last roll, then you have almost 20 inches of spaces to straighten it up in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lib Posted October 23, 2011 Report Share Posted October 23, 2011 I have been having the same problem for a while so thank you Tori for bringing up the issue....and thank you Lisa for the link. Once I get this HUGE Celtic quilt off my Milli I am definately going to follow those instructions. Lib Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracey Posted October 24, 2011 Report Share Posted October 24, 2011 I almost always have an hour glass thing happening with quilts. The bigger the quilt...the worse it seems to be. I have no idea why it does it or how to fix it either. Any thoughts???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tori Spencer Posted October 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2011 Tracey, I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one with this problem! Here's what I did that seemed to help. I followed the link that Lisa left for me in her post above -- that's where you pin the leaders to each other and stretch them back and forth. I have also checked out various people showing exactly how to load a quilt and collected info on floating vs not floating the top . It was quite an education. I didn't know I was doing it differently from others. I thought the way I was taught was THE way, but apparently, there's lots of ways to do it! A couple of other tricks I use when I have to is propping up the stretchy side grips with a yard stick to help hold the quilt flat if I have a saggy side or using little strips of batting to stuff under either the bottom roller or top roller depending on where I need it. This helps just take up a bit of slack in the backing or quilt top, but using too much or too often means you have a bigger issue. (If I knew how to upload a picture, I would show you how the yard stick works. I'll look in to that.) (Another thing to learn!!!) When I started this post I had a king size quilt on my machine and the further I went down the quilt the worse the problem got. So I stopped and rolled the whole thing back and forth a couple of times, which helped to tighten everything up. I was afraid to do it right in the middle of quilting the quilt but it did really help. I think i wasn't getting the front and back tight enough around the rollers in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitomi Posted October 24, 2011 Report Share Posted October 24, 2011 Sometimes, I tuck small amount of batting under the top roller bar after I advance the quilt top and that helps to pull the quilt top flat. Then I have to ease the fullness in on the side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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