annlittle1 Posted November 29, 2007 Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 I\'ve been stitching a pantograph on a king size log cabin quilt. It takes me about 45 minutes to do each row of this pantograph because it has to line up perfectly with the row before and the points on it have to be perfect to make it look right. This is a first quilt for my customer, but she did a really nice job on it. The quilt measures 112 x 112, or at least it did when I started. Suddenly I have a lot of fullness in the right borders and a little bit of fullness in the left border. The center is flat. I\'ve been checking to be sure my lines are straight everytime I rolled the quilt. Now the lines are curving down on both ends about a half an inch. I stabilized the rest of the quilt with pins and rolled back up to the top to check straightness. It looks fine until I get to the last row that I did, other than what I had measured at 112" is now 110". I spent 45 minutes putting in that last row, but I spent the rest of the day picking it out and its only halfway picked out. I do not want to have to pick out the whole thing. To complicate matters, this quilt should have been completed last week, but I had unexpected company for Thanksgiving. Then I\'ve had my grandbabies everyday but yesterday and will have them the rest of this week. I really do not have time for this problem. The quilt just before this one had a similar problem, but it was all on the bias so I expected problems with it. It was made by a new piecer, too. It turned out that her borders were about two inches too wide for the quilt. I just didn\'t anticipate that kind of problem with this log cabin quilt. Is there anyone out there that can help me? The grandbabies will be her in a couple of hours so I\'ve got to get to get busy on this quilt. I\'m going to at least pick out the rest of the current row. I\'m going to take a couple of pictures and post them. Maybe that will help. Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annlittle1 Posted November 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 Picture showing the top of the quilt. Log Cabin--Top of quilt.bmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annlittle1 Posted November 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 Four rows down Log Cabin--one row back.bmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annlittle1 Posted November 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 Pantograph is Tassles by Donna Reinart Log Cabin--Intricate panto.bmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annlittle1 Posted November 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 Problem area. This is on my seventh row of the pantograph. I\'m only, or was only, four rows from the bottom.:( Log Cabin--Wavy borders.bmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annlittle1 Posted November 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 What do I do with this mess?!! I don\'t think steam and starch is going to clean this mess up. Log Cabin--Wavy Borders 2.bmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted November 29, 2007 Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 Four from the left or four from the black rod? I can\'t see anything except the bit of fullness on the bottom left corner of the picture.. pretty quilt and gorgeous quilting design.. there\'s no way you can ease the fullness back out a bit as you go.? I\'m trying to guess> wish I had a good answer. PS Oh... now I see, was only looking at the first two photo\'s. I\'m wondering if spray glue would help work it out and get it to lay flat so you can ease it in.. Maybe combined with starch and steam or spray water on it and steam?? RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted November 29, 2007 Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 Start out with the steam and starch and finish up with Sullivan\'s Basting spray. Now the basting spray has a nasty smell so that may not work for you. If you need to use either the 505 or the KK2000 remember that you will need to work fast, as the spray only stays in the fabric a very short time. The hot steam and spray will take out way more than you will think, but just remember you may have to do several applications and use tons of steam..... Good Luck and let us know how is finishes up.....the pattern is a gorgeous one and with the metallic threads is looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarieBrewer Posted November 29, 2007 Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 It\'s very possible that the problem is not your quilting but the way the borders were installed. I had a quilt that buckled in the middle and when I struggled and was done I asked the piecer is she measured her ends and sides b/4 installing the borders. No, she started at one end and went till she hit the other. I gently (I think) informed her as to how she needed to measure the sides/middle and take the average and cut borders then put them on. I did have to use spray starch and it looked ok. It flaked a little like dandriff. There was one small pleat in it but I couldn\'t find it when I wanted to show it to her. She was happy. Love the panto you used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flygirlTRE Posted November 29, 2007 Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 A lot of times when I pin a quilt top into the top rollers (I know you didn\'t do that, but shoudl you decide to do that in the future), if the borders are larger than the quilt center, I will pad the borders with scraps of batting. you just lay it on top of the border. You may not necessarily need to do the whole border all the way up, but what will happen is it will ease in the fullness throughout and you can tug a little bit with the roller in the center to ease the border. The starch and steam method works very well and would probably fix your situation you have right now. I used it for a quilt top that had some C to D cups and pretty much took out the fullness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkerekes Posted November 29, 2007 Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 OUCH! It\'s hard enough to manage those big quilts as it is without having to deal with borders waving at you! Can you take a strategic tuck or two in there? You can try the other methods, but how much time do you want to take to deal with it? It\'s your choice.....but I\'m a \'tucker\' myself:)... Jill Kerekes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stagecl Posted November 29, 2007 Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 I agree with Jill...take a dart. You can see where the border was stretched when it was stitched on. I don\'t think steam will shrink up that much excess. When you are done go back a blind stitch the tuck down. Let the customer know and also gently let her know how to help prevent this problem. Cheryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willbegfrofabric Posted November 29, 2007 Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 I can\'t give any advice as I don\'t have a machine as yet, but very soon. I would love to know the name of lthe panto it\'s beautiful. You have done a beautiful job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted November 29, 2007 Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 Originally posted by Stagecl I don\'t think steam will shrink up that much excess. Cheryl Cheryl you will be surprised how much will actually shrink back into place....this looks way worst than it is... I\'ve pulled way more back into place. Try it the next time you run into this, before you decide to take a tuck into a quilt....you will be surprised. You might still need to take a little tiny tuck, but it will be nothing compared to what it would be if you didn\'t steam and starch first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLM Posted November 29, 2007 Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 At this point, I would also recommmend taking a tuck. In the future, I recommend checking the quilt top before you put it on the frame. Fold the top and bottom edges to the center and you can see immediately if there is a problem. You can also check from side to side. Borders that are too big are probably the number one problem seen by long arm quilters, so this won\'t be the last time you encounter this. Janet Mohler Colorado Springs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona-quilter Posted November 29, 2007 Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 Ok, I\'m going to weigh in on this one. This problem spans 3 borders, not one. YIKES! This is definitely a piecing problem. But first a question for Bonnie. Do you have to remove the quilt to do this starch/steam thing? I know that I did just that last week using Bonnie\'s fix and it worked great even though I had to remove the quilt to do it. This waviness is much worse than what I had. I think that if I had to pull it off the table to begin with, I would give the customer the option to fix it herself or to allow you to fix it. This way, she knows there is a problem and if she wants you to do it, she should be willing to pay $$ for the additional time that it will take you to unmount/steam/starch/remount. Just my 2 cents worth. I had to look closely to see what you meant by fitting the rows together. That is some serious interlocking. 45 mins a row X 11 rows is over 8 hours. Yikes, Phyllis. It is a pretty panto, though. I have a friend who keeps her pantos in bins under her table. The bins are labeled, Easy, Intermediate, Advanced and Never Again. If you had to put that panto in one of those categories, where would you it.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted November 29, 2007 Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 Originally posted by ramona-quilter But first a question for Bonnie. Do you have to remove the quilt to do this starch/steam thing? I know that I did just that last week using Bonnie\'s fix and it worked great even though I had to remove the quilt to do it. Linda...no you shouldn\'t have to take off the quilt at this point. I use a very thick towel and hold it up against the bottom while I steam and starch the top.... You knew that its was not just a few spots or maybe the last row that would give you trouble. In that case I too would do like you did and remove it from the frame and do the steam and starch from the top to the bottom and then reload it back onto the frame. What I MIGHT do is rip out the row before this so that I would have a solid row of fabric so that I would be working with the last row. If that didn\'t work or wouldn\'t be easy I then would just work with what I had in front of me and do the best to avoid having to take a tuck...this tuck will have to cross all the borders and it will look so bad.... You also stated that you would maybe ask them to fix the problem and bring it back....I did that once...the quilt never came back and I felt so bad because I had heard later that it was being said that I was to picky and wouldn\'t quilt the quilt. Never saw another quilt from her or that shop again. So it just became easier for me to fix it and go on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted November 29, 2007 Report Share Posted November 29, 2007 Phyllis, I\'ve used Bonnie\'s technique to resolve a problem that looked almost similars to yours. The starch and steam really does do wonders! Like Bonnie I think a tuck would really detract from this pretty quilt. I hope you give the starch a try. Heidi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annlittle1 Posted November 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2007 Thanks everyone. I\'m still removing the last row that I stitched. I\'ve had my grandbabies since 9:00 a.m. They left at 8:00 p.m. and I worked another hour and a half on it. I can only work so long picking out the stitches before I just can\'t stand the touch of the seam ripper or the tweezers on my hands. I keep two different seam rippers and two different pairs of tweezers so I can alternate, but after a while I just have to put them down and get completely away from it. I know that sounds silly, but its like my hands are allergic to the feel of those tools. I tried wrapping the seam rippers in batting and that helped me go longer at it. I don\'t have the grandbabies until 3:00 p.m. tomorrow, so I hope to at least get the rest of the row removed and then I\'m going to try to steam and starch. I\'ve never tried putting something under the quilt when I\'m doing that, so I\'m going to give that a try. Maybe that is why I always feel like I\'m just setting in wrinkles when I steam wavy borders. I\'ve dealt with wavy borders before, but I\'ve always known before I started that the borders were going to be very "friendly". This one surprised me because I did check it for straightness and it seemed to be just fine. I thought maybe it was drawing up in the middle, but I\'ve got that part picked out and it still lays just fine. The panto is called Tassles. Its by Donna Reinart. I\'ve been wanting to use it and this seemed like the perfect quilt for it. It really is a beautiful pantograph, but you can\'t speed through it like most of them. I have my pantos sorted into two different price ranges, too. But for this one I\'m going to create a third price range and call it "heirloom". I\'m going to charge at least a custom price for it, too. I\'ll have to take a picture of the quilt from the back when I get it finished. The front doesn\'t do the quilting justice. The back is gorgeous. I have another King size Log Cabin to do for this customer before Christmas. I guarantee I will measure it, measure it a second time and then measure it everytime I roll it up. It won\'t get "Tassles" either. Maybe something like "Ribbons and Roses". That one goes zip, zip, zip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iquiltit Posted November 30, 2007 Report Share Posted November 30, 2007 When I load a quilt top on my machine and wind it up.I always look to see if it appears straight across. Soetimes the borders on each side will appear longer and the middle will appear shorter. Creating a bow effect. AFTER I hook all 3 layers into the throat of the machine and wind the top taunt, then I check it again. If the problem is still there I go to the tighter part and press down on it real close to the roller (with the top). do this to all the baggy parts but not to the middle. tighten your top again an most of the time the wrinkles(baggies) are gone and it lies nice and flat. Do this every time you roll if needed. I hope this helps. works for me.:P Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattyJo Posted November 30, 2007 Report Share Posted November 30, 2007 Hi Carol - do you have any pictures of what it is that you do? could you post them? I can\'t quite figure out your directions. I\'ve had these wavy border quilts before also and ended up sending it back home with the customer and she fixed them, and then the quilting went smooth. But if I could take care of it with either Bonnie\'s Steam & Starch tip or your roll & press, it would save time for me not to have to reload the quilt. I hope that you have a picture or 2 to help me see what it is that you do. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted November 30, 2007 Report Share Posted November 30, 2007 Hi Bonnie, I want to let you know that for the first time yesterday while working on a friends "I Spy" quilt I had occasion to use your "Starch & Spray" tip. I had the quilt loaded, side basted and rolling correctly, but as I approached the last 1/3 of the quilt I noticed the borders were starting to wave at me. I thought here is my chance to use Bonnie\'s Tip! I sprayed the living daylight out of the the border with spray starch! BTW: Did you know that Niagra starch has a new pump bottle of starch that is really neat! Target has it. Then I bought my Bernina iron in by the frame. This iron has so much steam it could fly when you hit the "steam button". I steamed down very close---but, did not touch the border fabric. I let the border dry for several hours, and when I came back to check on it...it had flattened down perfectly!!! I side basted the border, and completed the quilt! Thank YOU! Thank You! for sharing this terrific idea with all of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeanette Posted November 30, 2007 Report Share Posted November 30, 2007 LOL Bonnie - does Cowby know you are such a steamy broad?? Seriously tho your advice saved me on one of my own quilts. And it had a border that stood up and sang while it waved. Usually I resort to the \'stuffing\' method. I keep my excess pieces of batting handy and when I see one of those friendly things starting I stuff batting into the takeup roller as I roll it up. I rarely have to do it more than once. Just keep tucking batting wads under the roller as I go. I run into this problem more with a vertical seam in the back than any other time. The middle will be tight and the sides billowy. I\'m going to look for the panto, it sure is pretty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted November 30, 2007 Report Share Posted November 30, 2007 Yes Momma, "Cowboy" does know that I am a steamy person.....in more ways than one....I usually go through 3 irons a year so I guess you could say I\'m a bit hard on my irons.....branding or otherwises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annlittle1 Posted December 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2007 Finally, its finished. I lost about four days because of a round of stomache virus which has been passed around the the family since Thanksgiving. I took it off of Ginger this morning and the customer picked it up this afternoon. She seemed to be happy with it. The starch and steam took care of the fullness and allowed me to get the bottom border straight. Otherwise, the quilt would have had "bunny ears". The hardest part was getting the quilt lined up with the pantograph after all the rolling back and forth I did. I guess I should have put in more basting pins, but it may have been because I had to steam out so much fullness. I had to kind of fudge a little bit to get it lined up. Its not perfect, but you have to look closely to find it. Finished Log Cabin-2.bmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.