K. Szymaszek Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 Ok. I just cant wrap my head around this. Every quilt I pray it comes out straight and I wing it. I need someone to clarify how I get a square quilt. I float my tops and have removed the top roller at the front of the machine. I lock down my top edge and the sides as far as I can without advancing. Do my quilting and advance. As I go along the part that is quilted pulls in. The unquilted part flares out like a lamp shade to match the proper measurement. How can I know that I know that I know the width will be even. This is making me bonkers. Please will someone clarify this for me. Thank you and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all. K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oma Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 You're thinking too hard...lol. Loosen up and enjoy the process. Do the quilts that you "pray come out straight and you wing it" come out straight? The quilted part HAS to pull in somewhat and therefore the unquilted parts would flare out until they too are quilted. If you start with a square quilt...you should end up with a square quilt. I don't think about it much and mine come out pretty straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 Hi K and Merry Christmas! The sides flare below your stitching because the top pulls in as it's quilted. Depending on what batting you use, the pull-in can be pronounced. You're fine and the quilt is fine. My technique ( and not one that everyone uses) is to not stitch down the sides as I advance and quilt down. Mine are pinned into place so I can manipulate and control fullness in side borders. I advance, pin the borders so they meet the side marks and any fullness is addressed, and quilt. Sometimes if there are lots of seams at the edge of the border I will stitch along the edge after it's quilted. As Oma shared, if you're happy with the end result you're doing it right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Szymaszek Posted December 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 Thank you both, I totally obsess about this and have such anxiety. I am going to try the way you do the sides Linda as ive heard others mention this before. I will try to have more fun and relax like you suggested Oma. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaC Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 Linda, is there a preferred way you place your pins or does it seem to matter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 Linda, is there a preferred way you place your pins or does it seem to matter? I pin-baste along the edges and also any spot in the body of the quilt that needs some attention. If I have a horizontal seam that's straying off, that'll get pinned straight. If a big triangle is full, I may put 10 pins in to try to distribute the fullness before stitching. Right now I'm SID-ing a quilt with some long seams on an angle. I pinned both sides of the pieced-in strip (about 4 inches wide) so the seam allowances stayed on the correct side. Plus I needed to make the seam straight and the fabric on either side flat, so I could get at the seam. I used lots of pins, some even crossing the seam if necessary. I don't stitch over them, but remove just as I get to them. There is fullness on either side of the seam, so careful SID-ing will keep everything where it's supposed to be. I'll deal with the fullness in each area as I get to it. It's been a challenge, but the quilt is gorgeous. I place pins in every direction to control the top, but if any are left in when I advance, they are re-pinned so they are parallel to the rollers. My magnetic bowl has about 200 pins in it and I've emptied it many times. It's wonderful when I start pulling pins and the bowl refills. That means I'm headed for the finish line! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheri Butler Posted December 25, 2014 Report Share Posted December 25, 2014 I do exactly what Linda does. PIN baste the sides and wherever needed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaSteller Posted December 25, 2014 Report Share Posted December 25, 2014 I start out by using the channel lock to get a nice straight line across the top when I basted the batting down to the backing, line the top up with that, pinning the center and then smoothing the quilt out to the sides. Once I have the top basted to the batting and backing, I take a long piece of painter's tape and wrap it around the leveler bar where the sides of the quilt come to. As I roll the quilt, I make sure that I smooth the quilt top out and get the sides lined up with that tape on the leveler bar. When I get to the bottom, I smooth the last of the quilt out, and get an idea of where the bottom edge should be, then flip the quilt back a bit, run another line of basting across the batting and backing where the bottom should be, and then smooth the quilt back, pinning into place along the line. If necessary, I'll do a little steam and starch to make sure it's straight and square, especially at the corners. I'm wondering why you float your quilts if you have difficulty with keeping them square? I know a lot of people have a preference for doing it that way, but to me, that's the biggest loss of control over the quilt top you can get. I have floated several very small quilts and that works okay for me, but the one time I decided to try and float a larger quilt, I was miserable. The machine comes that way so you can have that tool available for achieving straight and square quilts. I can't see removing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercedes Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 I love the idea of using the painters tape on the leveler bar - I have a quilt on my machine now that I'm going to use this technique. Thanks for the tip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Szymaszek Posted December 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 Hi Linda, ya know, I took my top bar off years ago after having issues with 2 quilts that were on point and so off kilter. I started floating the tops and finally decided to remove the bar to get it out of my way and make it easier to place batt and top. I am so used to working on a flat surface and I have e to admit I never gave a thought to trying it the other way again. But I have to admit, you've got me thinking. Thanks for your input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharond Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 I also use my channel lock to get a nice straight line on my backing and batting. Then line the top of the quilt on that line. I will pin baste the top completely, measuring as I go to make sure athe top is staying square (or manipulating it to be square if my customer brought it in out of square). Then I go back to the top and start my stitch in the ditch work if the quilt is custom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cegates Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 Remember to give the quilted part of the quilt that is rolled onto the take up roller a good tug at each end after advancing. It tends to bunch up in the middle just a little, making the quilted part seem smaller than the unquilted top. Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2quilter Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 painters tape, never would have thought of that one--makes sense now that you mention it-- what a grand idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kueser Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 I also use painters tape at the edges and "marking lines" for alignment as I roll the quilt up. I usually have at least 5 strips of tape to match the seams, borders, and center of the quilt as I roll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted December 27, 2014 Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 I am with Oma up there! I float my tops - and I wing it and the majority of quilts come out straight and square...and a lot of that has to do with how square the quilt was to begin with. I honestly don't worry about it too much unless it's going into a show...but I'm still somewhat of a newbie only doing this for about two years so maybe there's something out there folks are doing that I don't know about. The only quilts I have had real troubles with are a couple of wall hangings I worked on recently where the outermost border was made up of triangles...and yep, every triangle had a bias edge facing out. LOL That was was a wee bit of a nightmare before binding/trimming...but once it's trimmed, some of the excess fabric from miscutting/sewing will be evened out and it will look fine. I really think I did as much as I could have done! Also I don't mind pinning that last border - I kind of feel like I have more control floating my tops but a lot of folks feel the opposite. I just pin the daylights out of the last borders IF they happen to be super full of excess fabric or out of whack by the time I get to them...and generally they aren't unless I did a lot of heavy quilting towards the top. I sort of suspect ditching the entire quilt first (therefore basting the entire quilt too and stabilizing it) can help with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMALKB Posted December 27, 2014 Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 I have a strip of 0 center measuring tape on my leveler bar.........starts in the center at 0 and then out both ways with measurements. I also have another one on my belly bar because I don't use it to load the bottom of the quilt top. I float the batting and top. I also run a stitching line across the top using my channel locks to get a straight line and pin my quilt top, then baste it all down. I baste the sides down as I go first with pins, then stitch. I like the idea of also running a straight horizontal line across the bottom to line up the bottom of the quilt! I have pretty good luck using the 0 center tapes on both rollers to guide me. Now I plan to add that extra line across the bottom. Great idea ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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