Centering the quilt top to the back both ways

[smhowell]

I've read several places that you can't center the top to the bacing in both directions because the quilting causes a variable pull in, but has anyone tried it?

I've been told that it is no problem to center it lengthwise. My thought was to use zippered leaders so the quilt can be turned, start in the middle so that the center of the back matches the center of the front, then advance as normal. I intend to float both the batting and the top, and baste right above where I intend to start, then remove the basting when I turn. Turn the quilt and do the same on the second half as what was done on the first. Does anyone think this will work? Why not?

[Mary Beth]

I made a t-shirt quilt once and positioned a very important shirt on the back of the quilt in the center. It all worked, but I had to make sure I measured down far enough from the top of the quilt. Of course it was already centered on the rollers.

[jkerekes]

I think the answer is that, you CAN center the backing, but it takes more effort. If you are not doing heavy quilting(stippling, dense McTavishing, etc.) the 'pull-in' is almost non-existant. I've quilted several quilt tops that were pin basted to their bottoms with almost NO extra backing and I quilted them without any problems.

A suggestion might be to baste the center areas first and then evenly baste the quilt throughout before actually quilting and then baste your edges. If your quilt is evenly basted, you should have no problems.

Good luck!

Jill Kerekes

[Katydids]

It can be done, at least you can get it pretty darn close!!

I had a pieced back that a particular area had to be exactly centered on the front panel on the quilt. Hope that made sense.

I laid the quilt back out on the floor, then laid the quilt top on top of it. Positioned it so that it was centered in all directions. Then I took safety pins and put them in the backing and quilt top in matching positions. I loaded the quilt normally. Then I knew exactly where to start the quilt top on the backing and with each advance I could make sure the safety pins lined up. This let me know everything was where it should be so the quilt was centered in all directions. Yes, it is extra work, but you can charge for it if this is what the customer requests.

Patty