ffq-lar Posted July 16, 2015 Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 A customer asked me a question today. Her friend had picked up a baby quilt from her longarmer (not me) and after getting it home, found several pleats in the back. The question she asked me was --Is it the piecer's fault or the quilter's fault? We discussed reasons why this can happen. My bigger questions were--how could the quilter not notice them and/or why didn't she fix them? What I advised her was to tell her friend to call the quilter and say "Thanks for the nice job quilting the baby quilt. I found several pleats on the back side. Is there a way you can fix these?" Then she should just let that question hang there until she gets an acceptable answer from the quilter. And we all know what the acceptable answer is! My customer (a prolific regular) said she once had a quilt finished by a longarmer and it had a long pleat on the back. Instead of having it corrected, she said nothing and changed longarmers. Yikes! I'd rather know, fix it, and hopefully keep a customer. Or at least my reputation as a professional! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cagey Posted July 16, 2015 Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 Linda: I will ask a dumb question, as I have only George. While I understand how the pleats on the back were formed, I would hazard to guess the only want to fix them is to remove the stitches in that block and re-quilt them. My question is, does the longarmer put the now finished quilt onto just one roller to quilt that problem area using pins to spread/ work the extra fabric into the area so it is not noticeable? Cagey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tella Posted July 16, 2015 Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 I'd rather know too....I would do anything to try to fix a problem for someone....so far it has never happened....I have only ever had to put one back on and that was only to fix a small seam that had started to unravel..less than an inch but I fixed it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted July 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 Linda: I will ask a dumb question, as I have only George. While I understand how the pleats on the back were formed, I would hazard to guess the only want to fix them is to remove the stitches in that block and re-quilt them. My question is, does the longarmer put the now finished quilt onto just one roller to quilt that problem area using pins to spread/ work the extra fabric into the area so it is not noticeable? Cagey Yes, that's exactly what you have to do. If you find them when grooming the back while still loaded, unpick as much stitching as necessary and manipulate the full area so it's a flat as possible. Pin-stabilize it (from the front) and restitch it. If it's returned for correction, do the same frogging and pinning off-frame, reload using those great magnetic bars, and restitch. I've done it a couple of times... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie in Ok Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 I just finished one that had small tucks in the back. I removed the stitching and tried easing it in twice but could not get rid of them. Any ideas on how to remedy the problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamu Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 Bonnie... I have found taking out neighboring stitches helps this issue. Sometimes when this happens you have to take out much more than just the stitches where the tuck is. That allows the fabric to relax and then you can restitch the area maneuvering around to avoid tucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cegates Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 This happened to me for the first time just recently. I ripped out enough quilting so that the fabric could be patted into place, but there was still a lot of extra fabric to deal with. I used a contrasting thread and hand basted the area until it was all flat as possible. After I re-quilted it and took out the basting stitches you really could not tell there was ever a problem. It took a while but it was so worth it. Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlnewell Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 I've had this happen to me when using cotton sateen as backing fabric. When I quilt something with that as a backer, I always quilt the area completely or baste/pin heavily before advancing. There's nothing worse that picking out a lot of stitching! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenscratch Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 Very timely post. I just had this happen. Luckily I caught it quick and was able to rip out enough to fix it. I think the problem I had was the backing fabric kept getting more and more saggy the more I worked with it. My guess is is was not 100% cotton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie in Ok Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 Good information I did take out surrounding area but didn't think to hand baste to help ease it in. Just kept getting different ares of tucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cagey Posted July 18, 2015 Report Share Posted July 18, 2015 Linda: I want to thank you and all the others that have explained how this happens on a longarm machine. Take care, and have a wonderful weekend. Cagey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aktbone Posted July 19, 2015 Report Share Posted July 19, 2015 My question is does this happen more on custom quilting than on edge to edge? I had it happen just recently. She had pieced her back with small square around a panel which did not lay flat at all. I told her I could not guarantee that it would lay flat. I had one small tuck which I was able to fingernail it out. Great topic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
o2b Quilting Posted July 19, 2015 Report Share Posted July 19, 2015 Sometimes the pleats are not the quilter's fault...As Tonilyn said, pieced backings can pose a problem. I have a couple of customers who think that putting pieces of leftover fabric together to make a large enough backing is enough...BUT...they do not make sure each piece is square. When I can visually see crooked seams I know I am going to have trouble!!! Carefully pieced backings can be beautiful but it takes a skilled or careful piecer to do it correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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