LadyLake Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 Please share and post here your methods for keeping the quilt square while you have in on your machine (both top and bottom, inner borders, center medallion, etc). Chrisquilter just posted a good suggestion on this thread: http://www.apqs.com/quiltboard/viewthread.php?tid=32215&page=1#pid414070 One thing I do is to set the channel lock when stitching the inner border in the ditch. I think the eye sees that border more than it does the outer edge of the quilt. Any one else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dianne Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 The best thing for squaring that I learned was to use the smallest length and width measurement of the top then using the inner borders as guides - baste the top edge and baste the side edges straight on the frame. It is AMAZING how much border fabric you can scrunch into your quilting design when you baste before quilting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimerickson Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 I haven't really figured it out yet. Seems like no matter what I do, the quilt is never really square to the frame. I've just accepted the fact that quilts aren't square, and that the process of pinning them to the leaders leaves you with something that is not truly square. If the quilt were square, I'd be able to stitch in the ditch on the top border seam with my horizontal channel lock. I've never been able to do that! It always moves one way or the other, or both. I haven't even been able to baste down the sides with good results. After I baste, and do some stitching on the quilt. there seems to be a "puff" of fabric along the basting stitch and I invariably end up tearing the basting out when I stitch the border. I've taken to simply pin the sides and move the pins as I do the stitching. I certainly do not anguish over the squareness of the finished quilt. Unless the top is really out of square or if I've done a really bad job of mounting and quilting, no one ever notices it. I think uniform borders are visually more important than quilt squareness. I've noticed that the center lines on my leaders no longer line up. I can assure you they did when I put the leaders on the rollers! The leaders have either shrunk, or stretched out of shape. I think it's the latter. If heavy canvas stretches, what will a pieced cotton quilt top do? At any rate I don't worry too much about it. If any of you has a fool proof method of mounting a quilt square to the rollers I'd like to hear it. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Linda S Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 I didn't have vertical channel locks (on my Liberty) until I got my IQ. Fortunately, the first quilt I did on the machine with the IQ was my own and I used the vertical channel lock to keep my borders straight (or so I thought). Big mistake! When I got to the bottom of the quilt, I had way too much baggy quilt in the middle of those borders. I think this happens because of quilt draw-up as you quilt. I now have gone back to putting painter's tape on the leveler bar for my outer edges and inner borders. Everything comes out flat and square again. Oh - and I do use a basic Omnigrid square ruler to initially load the quilt and help me keep it square as I roll -- especially if the quilt has issues. You can see this in action if you take my class at MQX West this year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseCity Quilter Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 I do it very much like Linda, only instead of tape, I just started using "bundling Straps" designed for budling electrical cords. They are a 2 sided velcro. They are not long enough to go around the rail, so I loop 2 together. I like them better than tape as they do not start comeing off on larger quilts, they are resuable....I also add several on the ends of my leader so that it stays put and does not flop every time I advance..... 005 by RoseCity Quilter, on Flickr 004 by RoseCity Quilter, on Flickr 002 by RoseCity Quilter, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Della Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 I begin my quilt by basting across the top of the quilt. I always use the "floating" method so the canvas where the the top would be rolled up is empty. On that canvas I place a safety pin that is in alignment with the border on both the right side and left side. If I keep this line as I advance the quilt, I figure it is going to stay square...right? I also baste sides if the top is laying flat...pin if it is not so I can manipulate a little. I always quilt from the front of the machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmland Quilter Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 I got some plastic clamps from Jessica Schick that I clamp on to use as a guide. The just slip over the bar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-Jane Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 The LA Clips that Jessica has are ones Dave makes just for this purpose and has found many other uses as well - check out either Jessica's web site - Digitech or our web site and find the many uses!!! They help to line up, keep it straight, reclip it, quilt on point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyLake Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 I would like to share a 'trade-off'. Sometimes when quilting a smaller quilt, I will do a 'complete float' and don't pin the bottom edge of the quilt top to the canvas. The problem with this, is when you get to the bottom edge, after quilting the rest of the quilt, it is not always square. By pinning and using a square ruler for the corners, you can square the edge; but, it might have been easier just to have pinned the bottom edge to the canvas when first loaded. Hope that makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie H Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 On another list, someone posted about using magnets to hold their quilt tops to the belly bar instead of pinning. Yesterday I tried doing this and found that they worked really well for keeping the quilt square when advancing and stitching as they held the quilt top in place on the belly bar. It may not be as beneficial when working on a small quilt though. The magnets are quite strong. In fact, you do not want to stack them together as they are very difficult to separate then! Use caution around computers and pacemakers. http://www.harborfreight.com/18-inch-magnetic-holder-65489.html [/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy2018 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 I do a full float mostly, even on really big quilts. I keep the sides square by using a large carpenter square (metal) then like Della, I mark the sides on the top roller with pins. I check for squareness at every single advance, line up with the horizontal channel lock when possible. I use pins to keep things right until I get to them with the first quilting lines. The last 12-15 inches of quilting are the most important. I work backwards pining until all is right with the outside edge and the first border. I find that the border draws the eye to say it's square, not the edge.... If you don't use the top roller, you can mark along its length the critical sash markings for the vertical sashing with pins, and be very sure they will be straight. Knock on wood, I've had really good results doing this. One quilt was expertly pieced and when I finished I measured it diagonally and it was only off 1/4 " in 120" square quilt....Yeah... Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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