DebLou Posted October 29, 2007 Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 I'm a newbie and have offered to do charity quilts with a local quilt guild. They have given me 3 quilts to do and one needs to be finished this week. My problem is that the pieced quilt has a large print panel in the middle and will not lay flat. It has way too much material in it. Probably 1 - 1 1/2" too much. The rest of the quilt is fine. My question is, do I put it in my machine and try to work with the excess, or do I take out a little of the side seams of the border in the middle and just put a seam in the middle of the panel to make it fit? I didn't know if this would be okay or not. Other parts of the quilt appears to be improvised because of shortage of certain colors of material. Have any of you experienced this. Or should I call the lady that brought the quilts to me and get permission? She didn't piece them she is just delivering them. Thanks for any help you can give me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandraC Posted October 29, 2007 Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 I would call her and give her choices.....she can take it back and fix it, or, you can fix it for a price, or, do your best quilting it (maybe with a meander so you can ease it in). If it is so bad warn her that you would do your best not to create any puckers but that you can\'t guarantee it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted October 29, 2007 Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 Mary Lou, There was a thread a while back. Try Bonnie\'s starch method. YOu will be able to easily ease in the 1 1/2". Heidi http://www.apqs.com/quiltboard/viewthread.php?tid=7924#pid66940 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewingupastorm Posted October 29, 2007 Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 I would begin with a high loft batting as possible unless you just have to use what they gave you. Then do a tighter stipple in the center and a looser stipple on the part that is not puffy and you should be albe to ease it in with ease.............no pun intended. It is amazing what you can ease in with a stipple. Use your hands to coax the fabric a bit if you have to. I often have my left hand on the quilt and my right hand on the machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted October 29, 2007 Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 Mary Lou, If you read the whole thread that was sent to you today it will explain how you can actually get up to about 3 inches of bulk out of a quilt. The higher loft will help, but you will have the chance of just pushing a huge bubble around while you are trying to stipple it down. See which works best for you and let us know how it turns out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebLou Posted October 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 Thanks so much for answering my plea. I went to work and kept thinking about this quilt. I thought that maybe I could use my butterfly stencil and make random butterflies so the poofiness wouldn\'t show so much. I\'m definitely going to try Bonnie\'s tip. If I have problems, you\'ll be hearing from me very soon. I\'ve waited all day to get back to this. Thanks again everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebLou Posted October 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 Bonnie~ This is probably a really dumb question but when you are steaming the quilt, are you holding the iron above the quilt and working it in with the towel, or are you actually ironing the quilt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Mary Lou, You are pressing from the underside with the towel so you don\'t get burned, but you are using the iron right on the fabric from the top. HOWEVER, if you don\'t have this loaded yet, I would just start at the top and stray starch the whole quilt top....centering mostly on the middle panel that is giving you much fits...once starched you shouldn\'t have any trouble with the ugly middle rising its head. IF you haven\'t started sewing yet, I would unload and continue, if you have already loaded, and have started sewing, just spray and work the area that is right in front of you....TRY not to push the bubble to far down the panel...you will have a huge balloon at the bottom of the middle and without being there I\'m not sure what you will have to contend with. AND no, its not a dumb question...There are no dumb questions....just stupid answers. Good luck...with a bit of time and sticking with it this does work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebLou Posted October 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Wow!! Seeing is believing. I already have a lot of the fullness out. I have learned so many tips from reading this board. Thanks so much!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Mary Lou, Glad to hear things are working well for you....YEAH. The spray can companies need to give us stocks...:P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted October 31, 2007 Report Share Posted October 31, 2007 Mary Lou & Bonnie, I like to mix my own starch, just I just hate throwing away so many cans of starch. I buy a bottle of Stay Flo and mix in a spray bottle and walla. The nice thing is you can mix whatever you want, heavy or light. I prefer medium. The bottle of Stay Flo costs less than $2 and lasts forever. You can buy it at WalMart and some grocery stores! Heidi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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