need help on backing

[Bonnie in Ok]

I don't know what it is but when I have my sandwich all rolled it seems that my backing fabric has excess ripple on back where I have it rolled out to begin quilting. I always have to look underneath and pull the excess to the front so as not to get pleats  in the backing.  I have a 109 inch quilt on the frame and there are quilt a few ripples on the underside. Is there something I am doing wrong that causes this. I roll my backing on first and get it smooth and then lay my batting on and get it smooth against the backing and then lay out the top which I float. I know it is mostly because the fabric is stretching but wondering if it just my technique? I do use the side clamps but doesn't seem to solve the problem so am thinking it is just me and now will hopefully find others with the answers.

[ffq-lar]

If you check underneath with each pass and notice sagging, take a strip of batting or a thin towel and tuck it up underneath the front roller that the backer attaches to. Do this just to take up the bit of sag and only in that particular spot. The more you tuck under, the tighter the backer will become. I think with extra-wides the weight of the fabric itself will cause sagging. I keep strips of batting about 3 inches wide just for this problem. The strips also work if there's sag on the sides because of backer seams running perpendicular to the rollers. 

 

If your problem is ripples and not sagging, you more than likely have the backer loaded not-on-grain.

When you are cutting yardage and want to be sure the grain is straight, usually you hold the selvage edges and manipulate them back and forth until you see that there are not slanted ripples in the hanging fabric.

Same thing with the backer. If you're loading to the center point of your leaders, that isn't necessarily going to give you a straight-grain situation. Extra-wide yardage is notorious for being cut crooked from the bolt, caused because the double-folded fabric corkscrews on. You end up with a parallelogram instead of a rectangle. If you load it as-is you'll always get ripples. Tear extra-wide backers at both edges to get straight-of-grain and as the backer loads you should see the sides right on top of each other and not scrolling outward or inward.

 

Email me if you like for my no-center, wonky backer loading technique. It explains how to load without squaring and you can instantly see if there is enough usable (straight) backer for a particular quilt top.

lindarech@comcast.net  

[Joyce]

Linda you know that we will all want your no-center wonky loading technique.  LOL   

[mamaahma]

I tried Linda's technique once, and that was all it took!  I never went back to loading my back on by matching the centers.  It's the only way to go!

[SYork]

Then we all need a copy of the technique.  Please post it here.

[Sharond]

When I load my backing fabric, I roll it onto the backing roller. Then advance it onto the take up roller, paying attention to any ripples and sagging. Then I reverse roll it back on to the backing roller. Doing it this way I find I don't end up with ripples or sagging.

[ffq-lar]

Well, grab a cuppa coffee while I step through my loading technique. 

 

You need to have one perfectly straight edge---either a selvage or one that's been torn straight-of-grain. This will be pinned to the front take-up roller, so if the backer is directional or you need to load it the long way as a preference, just make sure that edge is straight.

 

I reach between the front roller and grab the leader, bringing it through and laying the edge facing me along the top of the roller. Disregarding the center mark, I position the backer to where it's most convenient for me. Many times this will mean loading towards the right so I don't have so far to go to release/set the brake. The top loading edge is facing me and the rest of the backer is laying neatly over the back rollers. I use pins to attach to the leader. Then I gather the whole backer and bring it towards me, under the front roller and then stuffed onto the panto shelf so it's ready to go under the leveler roller and over the take-up roller.

 

Here's where the trick happens. Position the backer properly over the back roller and pull the backer tight as you smooth out all the fabric. It should look flat and taut, with the excess backer fabric pooling on the table or on the floor behind the frame. You will use the "bite" of the canvas leader to load the backer squarely. Go to the front and use the power advance to roll the fabric towards you to load onto the front take-up roller. Nothing in the back is pinned or attached--it's just unfurling towards you and you will turn the front roller by hand to keep the fabric tight in the quilting field. Watch the top of the back roller as it advances and watch for ripples of fabric. When you need to, set the brake and either reach up and pull the backer at the sides to remove the wrinkles or walk to the back to smooth them out. A really wide backer will need to be adjusted from the back. Then go to the front and continue to load the backer, stopping and smoothing when necessary. I usually can advance the depth of the quilting field and then adjust. If the backer is square, the side edges should be piling up on top in even layers. If the backer is not square (as was mentioned, wide backs sometime are wonky) you'll have one side scrolling out and one side scrolling in. We'll get to that at the end...

 

I continue loading towards me until the backer just clears the top of the panto table. This is where you can see if the far side is square by eyeballing the edge. This works well when you know that the edge isn't square because of extra piecing or a badly cut edge. I put the shortest part of the edge right at table level and place pins along the longer area right at table level to help with loading. I bring the middle of the backer up and over the leveler roller and pin once to itself to hold it while I get the back canvas ready to load. I pull the leader edge over the roller so it's facing me and unpin the backer. I lay it all along the edge of the leader, noticing where the marking pins are and lining them up with the loading edge. I put one pin in the center to hold the backer in place while the rest is laying in position along the leader edge. The backer fabric slings down between the rollers. Look at the sling---if there are bumps or slanted ripples, unpin the center and slide the fabric left or right until the fabric looks flat. This is the same technique you use when you're making sure your yardage is straight before you cut it--make it lie flat with no ripples.

Almost there!!   With the backer in the sling you're ready to pin to the back roller. After that, I move to the front and load the sling fabric onto the back roller until it's tight and then advance it onto the front roller. Sometimes you'll need to roll back and forth if you have some sagging.

 

Now you can look at the backer to see how wonky it is. If you've loaded a parallelogram, you will have one side scrolling out and one side scrolling in. On the out-scrolling side, feel for the first pin at the edge and mark the position with a piece of painter's tape or an erasable marker on the top roller leader . On the in-scrolling side place a marker at the narrowest part---usually at the end, but sometimes if things are ugly you'll need to watch as it loads to find the narrowest place. The distance between the two marks is the usable width of the backer. Anything outside the marks is to be avoided, obviously. So if you have 96" between the marks and the quilt top is 100" it won't work. Been there/done that! 

 

This technique allows you to load anywhere along the leaders and not worry about those wandering center marks that sometimes happen as your leaders stretch.

 

I hope this was helpful and that you can visualize the steps. I'll try to clarify if you have questions.   

[LeeAnn]

Thanks Linda for printing your technique!  Do you have this on video?  I am a visual learner and while I think I followed most of it, I wondered if you had ever taped yourself loading a quilt.  Post it to Youtube?  If not, I will have to print out your directions and take them to my machine and try to follow it.  I have been using zippers the past several years and wondered if there was a better way.

Thanks again!  I appreciate all the advice you give on this site.  You're the best!

[meg]

You guys will love this!

I thank Linda every time I load a new back.

It's like a 'prestitching moment of reverence' for me!

I only use this technique.

I was never able to properly trim backing, so it saves me A LOT of time.

When I do it, I use those clip things that are made of PVC pipe on the take up roller when I'm rolling so it doesn't flop with each turn. I clip them on just beyond the edges of the backing.

Thanks, again, Linda!

[T Row Studio]

Linda You are a Saint

Thank-you for your knowledge we all appreciate all the information you give so freely.

Thank-you  Thank-you   Thank-you

[GMALKB]

Thanks Linda...........can't wait to load a backing to try this !

[T Row Studio]

This is how I was taught to load a quilt back.... I have leader grips on my canvases (by the way I love them)

Matt Sparrow from Sparrow studios in Edmonton Alberta has a u-tube video on this technique

 

 

I have never used the center lines on my machine and have (touch wood) never had a pleat on the backing yet.

 

Linda has some good ideas also i have printed them off and will refer to them. 

Remember there is always more than one way to get to the end result do what works for you.

[loraquilts]

Linda,

 

I agree ...... Puleeeeeeze post a video on youtube.  I too am a visual learner. 

I'd love to watch your technique in action. 

[Bonnie H]

Terry, thanks for the great video!  (and a little thanks to Matt Sparrow, too! LOL)

I'm going to have to try this method. Can it be done easily with Red Snappers, I wonder, as opposed to Leader Grips?

 

The thing that amazes me about this video is the COLOR of Matt's clothes ... the fact that he isn't covered

with white threads from the fabric!!! Me, I'm the one in the grocery store that you can see standing in line,

picking threads off my shirt and pants EVERYTIME I go!

[T Row Studio]

Red snappers and leader grips are the same thing I think.

Ya the thread thing I am a thread magnet for sure....my husband teases all the time 

The only time he care about thread is when there is a needle attached LOL

[K. Szymaszek]

Thank you Bonnie for starting this topic. I appreciate all the input. Thank you Linda for sharing your process, and Matt Sparrow for the video. I will be trying these very soon. K

[Sheri Butler]

Matt's method is DA BOMB peeps!  No more shoving batting wads, clamps, etc!

Give it a try, you wont have to mess with constantly looking under your machine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Terri C.]

I just tried Linda's method and I am soooooo happy with it.  It all made sense when I did it step by step, I really think this is the best my backs have gone on.

 

Thank you Linda for taking the time to posting how you do yours. 

[Lemon Tree Tami]

Fantastic info! I'll try this on the next one.

[Bonnie in Ok]

Great information from both Matt video and Linda's  instruction. It seems that I am doing pretty much what they say but when I get all three layers together and roll it out to quilt from the top I seem to have sagging on the fabric back. Hummmm! I will try what Linda recommended about the batting but sure would like to figure out why I seem to have this problem but doesn't happen all the time. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

[Busy Quilting]

I do the same as Linda's  technique except from the opposite side of the machine. I let the backing hang over the front roller and puddle on the floor.  I spritz the backing fabric with a spray water bottle as I advance it all on to the back take up bar.

 

once there is only about 12" hanging over the front roller is use little weighted bags to hold it all taut.  Often this edge will not be straight, use my red snappers to attach it so it is straight, there may be excess fabric in front of the snappers, then roll all the backing fabric back onto the front roller. I mark on the top roller the edges of the usable area for the backing fabric.

 

Rarely do I even need to use the side clamps.

[Bonnie H]

Bonnie, do you give your sides a little tug after you advance? Sometimes they schootch in and that could cause a little sagging. I also like to keep the backing taut as I advance and not let it go slack.

[Bonnie in Ok]

Yes Bonnie (thanks for the help) I do keep side taut as I advance and smooth from the center out it seems to lay very flat when I apply the batting and then roll back up to the top to put it on, but when I re-roll all three layers  back to the top to begin quilting I look underneath and see small areas of sagging fabric that if I would quilt it I would have small pleats forming in areas. So I usually try to pull the backing toward the front to smooth it out. However remembering to do that every time I roll doesn't always happen and then I end up frogging it back to the problem area. I know it is something I am proably doing to cause this but trying to figure it out is driving me crazy.

[Bonnie H]

Bonnie, I'm not sure what is happening either! I'm stumped!! And I'm not 100% certain I'm following what is happening so please forgive me if the following has absolutely no bearing on what is going on.  LOL

 

Are you saying that you have quilted some areas of the quilt and then have to advance to quilt other areas, and then are rolling back to a previous area to quilt some areas you had to leave unquilted? If that's what you mean, it happens to me, too, to a certain extent. I "think" it's the nature of leaving larger sections unquilted, even if you pin them. So far I haven't had any pleating happen though but that could be because it's usually pretty dense quilting when I'm doing in that instance.

 

When I do advance any quilt, any kind of quilting, panto or custom, I give a little tug on the sides of the quilt that is already quilted, the part that is on the take-up bar. Not sure if I conveyed that very well. I'ts not just the free sides I'm tugging, though I do give a little tug at the belly bar sides, too, if needed, but that part is usually okay.

 

If you are quilting each section as you advance and are not skipping back and forth, if you have too much sagging in certain areas, you can always use a strip of batting on either the take-up bar or the belly bar to help "even out" the tautness of the quilt. If you want to put it in the take-up bar area, simply unroll the quilt a little bit and put a strip of batting in the section where you had the sagging occur, then re-roll the quilt back to being taut. You can do the same in the belly bar section if you like. Just be sure not to quilt that little bit of batting into the underside of the quilt. You will have a BIGGER, different problem if you do. haha

 

Another thought, are your backings a lot wider than the batting? Sometimes a customer will bring me a backing that is say 12 inches bigger than I need and the quilt sometimes doesn't stay nice taut if the backing fabric isn't covered with batting. I will add batting strips after I quilt each panto section, just before I roll it up on the take-up bar to quilt the next section. I add as much batting, in a single layer, to help extend the batting out to the edge of the backer fabric. This helps keep the quilt nice and evenly taut, too.

 

I'm not sure if any of this will help. I hope you get it figured out. I'm sure it's aggravating as all can be!!

[Bonnie in Ok]

Thanks for the info Bonnie but not really quilting back and forth usually start at the top and work my way down but with each roll I have to smooth the backing fabric towards the belly bar to keep from sewing tucks into the fabric if that makes more sense.