LucyPrairie Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 I contacted my "mentor" prior to starting this project. I followed her instructions, however now I've got a massive mess on my hands. I'm working on a sampler quilt for a fundraiser. It has an outer border with sashing surrounding the blocks. She told me to do the borders first, then the blocks. The borders are finished, the handwriting is on the sashing and now that I'm working on the blocks, I've got bunched fabric on the backs of the blocks. So now that I'm best friends with my seam ripper, I wonder what I could have done differently. Anybody have any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BethDurand Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 Personally, I would probably do it all starting from one end, then working my way down. The only reason to change that order for me would be if I were changing threads, and didn't want to do that all the time. Then I'd probably start with the blocks. You might try "Skinning" the quilt. Use a single edged razor blade and slice the stitches between the backing and the batting. Sometimes this is faster when you've got a lot to frog. So sorry that you have to frog, but put on some good tunes to make it go faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirleyl Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 I agree skin the quilt. Unless you ditched and pin basted the snot out of it you will have issues. Since I usually turn to do side borders I work my way down. Top border, etc. if a block is sideways and I want to do it all at once when I turn it I pin baste the crap out of it. I also pin baste my borders that I'm leaving unquilted until I turn it. If you are free handing the border do the entire space on your frame, roll it and start on one side doing all across the quilt, then repeat all the way to the bottom. You have my sympathy with frogging. Last custom quilt spent more time frogging than quilting. Shirley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenscratch Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 Work from the top down. Draw lines on your quilt top roller with eraseable marker, so you will know the quilt is staying square. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggienoella Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 I'm trying to understand exactly what happened here for future reference. I think I follow it until the part where the fabric is bunched up on the back of the blocks. Could someone explain how this might've happened? I'm sorry for you having to frog so much. I know we all hate that. Joan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimerickson Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 Joan: When you roll a quilt, the quilt top rolls on the inside, and the quilt back rolls on the outside. If the "sandwich" isn't attached through all three layers, the top has less lenght, and the back has more length. As you stitch, you stitch fullness into the battting and the backing. When you come back to stitch in the incomplete portions, you end up with excess fabric on the back. To avoid this, if you're not quilting the entire quilt as you roll it, you must stabilize the "sandwich" by basting, or pinning it so you don't end up with the problem. I do a lot of SID to stabilize quilts that I'm custom quilting with block patterns, or thread changes. I learned this the hard way. Don't repeat my mistake. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibbyG Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 I prefer to pin, but I know quilters who baste across their quilts every 6 inches when they float. You really need to hold those layers together. I start at the top, do the right and left sides that are right in front of me without moving the quilt, go to the center and quilt out to the ends. Then I roll and repeat. If I have to change threads, I do. I get the best results this way. I might add, I do background fills last. I never quilt them as I go because they really pull the quilt in. Once I quilt over half the quilt, I'll go back and start the fills at the top only. This works for me. I must say I enjoyed Jim's answer. I knew you would get bunches, but didn't really think why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinneaMarie Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 Been there, done that! And, yes, I skin too to take the stitching out. I use a scalpel, just like surgery. hahaha And you'd be surprised how quickly the blades go dull!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted April 15, 2014 Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 Lucy I'm sorry you're having issues. The way I do samplers is: 1st - Baste sides 2nd - Put tension on sides 3rd - SID inside most border 4th - SID sashing and work into the blocks. 5th - once the blocks and sashing are all done I do the borders 6th - roll and start all over again. If I'm planning to do dense quilting I may SID the whole quilt but I'd pin the snot out of the unquilted portion of the blocks before I roll. If the quilting isn't super dense then I usually do the whole section before I roll forward. I prefer to be done by the time I get to the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.