aktbone Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 I have attached a pic of a quilt which I am do an E2E on. The borders are so full - YUCK! I have pinned the biggest on in a seam in all of the borders. Now how do I stitch this down? HELP : ( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anniquilter Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 You've matched those up really well Tonilyn. The last time I had 1 as bad as this I hand stitched the edge down so it wouldn't get caught when I quilted over it. When it was done I knew where it was (actually, where they were as there were several tucks) but the customer couldn't see them. Does your customer know how you are planning to handle the excess fabric? When I get quilts like this I give the customer the opportunity to take it back and fix it butt hey have always preferred to leave it to me and I charge them for the extra time too! The little extra $$ at least goes to mitigate my stress! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aktbone Posted January 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 I am almost 1/2 way done quilting it. She is very tight and would pitch a fit if I charged her extra! I don't think I will be quilting for her in the future. The top and batting both were covered in dog hair. She has asked if I would quilt 8 more for her before Christmas. We are going to have a long talk. I am trying to startch it out. OMG - what a PIA! Please keep the advice coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 When I have to use this technique, I baste it down along the edge using my up/down button and walking big stitches all along. This will keep the tuck from catching your hopping foot. I use a high contrast thread and don't remove it. This way it's very evident that there was a problem, we have "the talk" about fullness, and she has the chore, er... joy of invisibly stitching the tuck closed. As Anne said, charging extra for the service (with your customers knowledge and permission) goes a long way towards eliminating the problem in the future. A good rule is to photo-document the problem areas so you have some ammo if they dispute the issue. As for the "hairy" problem. I make a gentle note on the invoice to remind the customer that there was pet hair on the fabric and batting. I note that I removed what I could with a lint roller but can't accept any more "ungroomed" quilts because of allergy problems and transfer to my lungs, leaders, and work space. I just had this talk with a new customer. I mentioned allergies--but didn't tell her the allergic one wasn't me, but potentially my future customers. When quilters have pets, those four-legged family members are treasured and really they never notice the pet hair on their quilts. That doesn't mean you can't remind them to groom the quilt before they bring it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 From looking at the photo it looks like your quilting a larger E2E pattern. I would probably hand stitch the tuck down as Anne said. You have it lined up pretty good! I learned from past experience with quilts like this to measure each side before putting on the frame. If it is wonky I inform the customer and let them decide if they want to correct it or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitomi Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 I had my first "TUCK" or PLEAT a few weeks ago. Usually I can ease the fullness on the borders with a few "gathers". I had this quilt that was 79" in the middle of the quilt and 82" on the side. I could not ease it in. I had to baste the tuck or pleat first, then I when over with a panto. I did not charge the customer but I did not do the hand sewing. I told her to remove the baste and hand sew the pleat. When I saw the quilt afterwards, you couldn't tell there was a pleat. I gave the customer instructions on how to sew on the borders. She had just sewn the borders on without measuring. Hopefully, I will not get another quilt like that from her in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 I would call the customer and give them their options. One being that I do the hand work to fix it or two baste it like Linda says and they get to do the hand work. Friendly quilts are just no fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 Wow - I am so glad I found this topic as I am really concerned about this. I'm half way through my first quilt for someone that isn't family and I'm a little nervous. There's a bit of fullness but I don't think I'll have to pleat...at least I hope not - I'm tyring to ease it in throughout. I'm thankful to see how you handle this. I am almost 1/2 way done quilting it. She is very tight and would pitch a fit if I charged her extra! I don't think I will be quilting for her in the future. The top and batting both were covered in dog hair. She has asked if I would quilt 8 more for her before Christmas. We are going to have a long talk. I am trying to startch it out. OMG - what a PIA! Please keep the advice coming. Sounds like you're conveniently going to have to be "all booked up" for the unforseeable future! Eep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra Darlington Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 I had the same issue on a "few" quilts. The first time was when my business was very new. It was a quilt from hell. It was also a friend's quilt. It was a queen. The bottom corners were cut on the bias and created additional problems of fullness. This gal is also a "plop 'er down and just hack 'er off" type of piecer. Self taught; brags that she never took a lesson and has been quilting for over 50 years. She was offended when I called her to explain my dilemma. There wasn't just one or two areas, but all the borders were terrible. Yep, she likes to make "baby" size quilts and then plop borders around and around and around to make the quilt the right size. I finally took lots of pictures and emailed them to her. Her answer was that I was just inexperienced and if I had to take tucks in her quilt that she would be ok with it. Before I took the tucks, I used the starch & steam method to reduce the fullness as much as possible. I used 2 cans of spray starch and still needed to take tucks in it. Urghhh! She only paid me half of my invoice because I took the tucks! I also hand stitched them down, so there wasn't anything for her to do but the binding when I delivered it to her. She is no longer a very close friend. That said, I am still quilting for her, but on the second quilt I insisted on payment in full before I loaded it on my frame. She paid me. Since then we haven't had any payment issues, although I do ask for 50% of my estimate up front, then the balance on delivery. She's finishing up on a wedding quilt for her daughter. She got tired of making the blocks so the outer border is 24" wide, plus there are two inner borders. I know this will be lots of fun! NOT. The next one was a wall hanging for a LQS, made by a staff person as a gift for the owner. The border was actually ruffled! I called her to ask about the ruffle and she said there was no ruffle. I emailed the pictures to her. She said if I couldn't figure out how to quilt it without putting in pleats, that would be ok. She would hang it up high on the wall of the shop so people couldn't see my pleats! With this one I did piano keys on the border and took the tucks in the stitching line. It really isn't noticeable. My last situation was a repeat customer and when I sent her the pictures she was so apologetic! She asked me to just do what I felt was best and add the additional charge to my invoice. Sweet! The tuck was invisible. She was thrilled. I also printed out these pictures and put them in the customer's file folder so I would have them, if ever needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primitive1 Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 I have also been struggling with one that has way too much fullness in the outer borders, a combination of bias on half triangles in the setting triangles as well as the "gather it and make it fit" border application process. It has to be the worst one I've ever worked on, (is it a full moon for full borders this month?) she was another one of those very proud people who did not use a pattern..and apparently did not measure with a tape measure....(red flag), the outer borders are thankfully very thin and I am not going to even quilt them, I starched and steamed the heck out of it and because of the pattern of pieced baskets in the borders I could not take any tucks so just went along with the gathers....I am trying to finish it up today and am going to have the "border application" talk with her (of course I will be very kind and charitable) and send her home with a handout showing the correct way to apply a border to avoid this in the future. I am hoping she will learn from this and we will all be happy or if she chooses not to come back, I am ok with that too...but hopefully she will take my suggestion with the helpful attitude it is meant, and the next one will be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewhappy Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 I think I need more coffee~I thought is said "How to quilt in a TRUCK" LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aktbone Posted January 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 Oh my - how starch and steam have become my new best friends! Not as nice as I would have like to see it, but looks much better than the tucks! Yes, as I got to the bottom I would have had to take in 2 more tucks. It seemed like the border kept growing. I know it had issues before I put it on but it just kept multiplying! Thanks for all of the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beachside Quilter Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 Looks great, Tonilyn! I'm sure your customer will be pleased with the way you handled this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithsewnian Quilting Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Can anyone attach directions for the starch and steam method and maybe the handout for the borders? I have only quilted my own and haven't had any problems with them, but my daughter's is on now and I think there is a problem with wavy borders. This is her first quilt and she really didn't think she needed any direction so I kept my mouth shut. Thanks for any help you can give me, so she doesn't think it's just me trying to tell her what to do, but others that know what they are talking about. Connie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apylinski Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 I would like any directions on the starch and steam method also and dealing with wavy borders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra Darlington Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Bonnie Botts made a CD with directions and was selling them a few years ago. I bought one and thought it was very informative. Perhaps Bonnie will read this, or you may want to contact her. Bonnie's email is drycreekqlts@msn.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bekah Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Bonnie's method has saved my bacon more times than I like to count. I am beginning to think no one teaches the correct way to attach borders any more. If I get a quilt without wavey borders I am thrilled to pieces. You did a great job taming this beast. As usual, Linda R gave us all some good advice on how to handle them without us doing all the work. I just usually take the pleat, hand sew it down with no charge to the customer. Guess this new year is time for a change to that practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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