Callie_Grace Posted April 9, 2013 Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 I have been working on a customer quilt and noticed tonight that the bottom and sides are getting wavy. I am afraid that maybe I did this, I am not sure this is the first time I have had this problem. I was going to try the starch and steam, but my iron was spitting water! Do you think startching and steaming this quilt would help? How exactly do you do this? Any and all suggestions appreciated! These aren't the best pictures, as they are from my phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted April 9, 2013 Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 With solid fabric and such straight-line piecing I think the best advice is to email her your photos and advise her to pick up the quilt and remove and reattach the border. That sounds horrible, doesn't it?! You will not be able to "fix" this on the frame. And tucks and/or pleats will be very obvious on this solid fabric. If she doesn't care or doesn't want the hassle of re-doing the border quilt it as best you can. Remember though that this will stand as an example of your work, good or bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primitive1 Posted April 9, 2013 Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 I don't think you did this, you can tell by looking at the seam in the border that there is fullness. I would also ask her if she measured it before she attached it or did she just attach it and cut off the extra, or did she stretch it to make it fit? ....that is what causes fullness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witha'K'quilting Posted April 9, 2013 Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 I can't tell what the quilting looks like from the pictures...but if it is fairly dense in that border, it should suck up some of the fullness. You might be able to salvage it. Also, as has already been stated, you probably did not cause this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferBernard Posted April 9, 2013 Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 Oh boy!! How did she manage that?! I feel for you. Be brave and call her with the problem. Try to throw in some good feelings with the bad news...like your quilt has such an interesting design but... Then explain the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zora Posted April 9, 2013 Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 I see that you are floating the top. As a new quilter, I don't think I would advise that. When you have the quilt pinned to the leader and are rolling it, you can identify and adjust for problems before you start. Myrna Ficken's beginning quilting DVD deals with how to handle some of these issues as you are rollling the quilt on to the roller. I tried floating a top early on...fortunately, one of my own not-so-special scrap quilts that I had pieced several years earlier. What I found was, the quilt had a tendency to "walk" to the right, and wasn't square anymore. I had fullness in the bottom border, especially, and on the right side also. There's no way to know if the problem is caused by something you did, too much fullness in the border, or a combination of the two. Are you measuring the width of the quilt periodically as you are quilting to make sure you are maintaining the width of the quilt? Are you basting the sides as you go? If I have a quilt that is very badly out of square, I will sometimes float the top now that I have more experience. Otherwise, it goes on the roller. My results are much better if I attach it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted April 9, 2013 Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 I don't see how you could have caused this. It doesn't seem like you're densely quilting the previous area. If you did too much quilting and then rolled forward you might have some problems. Looks like a classic example of a piecer that didn't measure and added the predetermined border. I always lay out quilts on the floor prior to loading them because it will always tell you where there might be a problem. I'd have her fix the border before I went on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CindyT Posted April 9, 2013 Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 I guess I will quit whining about the quilt I started working on yesterday after seeing yours is worse (sorry). I called the customer and gave her the option to fix her borders or else I couldn't guarantee there wouldn't be puckers and tucks. She opted for the puckers and tucks. So far (and I'm half way through this big quilt) I've been able to avoid both, but the worse is yet to come on the bottom borders. It was about 3 inches longer than the middle of the quilt in two 5 1/2" borders. It looks like you have more than that to deal with. I'd definitely be calling that customer to fix it. Good luck. Bonnie Botts sells her starch and steam DVD and it's very helpful for future reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meg Posted April 9, 2013 Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 You didn't cause this. The top looks to me like it is improvisational piecing. I love the modern effects that are achieved with this method. I have a friend whose flimsies I quilt who does this type of piecing. Unless the piecer is meticulous in squaring up after each addition and measures very accurately when applying borders, these quilts are wonky. Just the nature of the beast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseCity Quilter Posted April 9, 2013 Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 If your customer does not want to redo these borders, try the steam and starch method, but also use LOTS of pins. Smoth the fabric straight outwards with a flat hand and pin, pin, pin till you have pins one inch apart. The pins themselves seem to suck up fullness...... Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janette Posted April 9, 2013 Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 i feel your pain. i just had that today to deal with and ended up having to take some of the seam apart now i have some hand applique to do to finish. it's not perfect but the quilt was awful badly pieced allover so it is what it is.... i also had to make a tuck but there are still some tiny pleats that could not be avoided. as for floating or not floating. these days i generally dont float but wish i had this one. i had to unpin the leader for the last part of the quilt. it was not a square quilt but she didnt want to piece it again. good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie_Grace Posted April 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 Thank you all for your suggestions and help! I called the customer and we are going to look over the quilt together and see what she would like to do. I have already quilted about 2/3 of the quilt before the side borders became an issue. If we try the steam and startch, what kind of starch do I use? Startch you can get at JoAnns or Best Pess? Is there a video to show this technique? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zora Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 Callie, Bonnie Botts (a forum member) has a video that shows how to do this, but she does it off the machine. You can contact her and see if she still has the DVD for sale. If you are doing it on the machine, you have to be careful of any plastic parts..your base expander, etc. Also, be careful with the heat in relation to your batting type. Anything with poly will need to be lower temperature than cotton. You can use either Best Press or regular spray starch, and a lot of steam with your iron. I doubt you are going to be able to shrink this out using starch and steam. You may be able to pull some of it out by stitching in the ditch between the quilt and the border, keeping that line straight. Then you work the fullness off the edge of the quilt by stretching it a bit, pinning, and moving to the next section. That will make the outer edge uneven, but it can be trimmed after the quilt is finished. Run a line of stitching along the outer edge, keeping the line of stitching straight, even if the outer edge of the border isn't. Its not ideal, but neither are pleats and tucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primitive1 Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 Here is another idea, I have also used the spray adhesive for batting to try to smooth out the puffiness....sometimes it helps and sometimes there is just too much but worth a try.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.