Wavy Borders

[Barb OMelia]

Hi All

I have a wonderful quilt in house - bright and happy with parrot fabric - and wavy borders! Any tips for dealing with it would be greatly appreciated. It has two borders with mitered corners and a 1/4" loose, folded inner border.

She is the first customer to send a second quilt and I don't want to dissapoint her

Thanks in advance for your help

Barb

Millennium

Alburtis PA

[Charlene]

Hi Barb,

First, I would offer the customer the chance to take apart the borders and reapply them correctly.

Otherwise, you can do several things. You can put small pieces of extra batting in the fuller area to take up space. Also would want to do some type of quilting that more stitching. That will help draw up the fabric.

If the fabric is a print, sometimes you can take a tuck/pleat in the fabric and it won't be noticeable.

Good luck,

Charlene

[Kay M.]

Hi Barb,

I get lots of quilts with wavy borders. Returning them to my customers isn't an option for me most of the time. Many of these quilters are elderly and are just having a good time. So, I have learned to work around them. The suggestion of taking a pleat is a good one if there is significant fullness. You can also take bean bags or something similar and place them around the area you will be quilting. This takes up the extra fullness and gives you a flatter area on which to work. I also sometimes place the bags under the roller along the quilt. Some like to use soup cans but I find they often roll where I don't want them to go. If I'm doing a simple freehand pattern, I often quilt with one hand and smooth out with the other.

If the fullness is still noticeable after quilting, I will mention it to the customer as tactfully as possible just so they know I didn't cause it with my quilting. I casually mention that there was a little extra fullness and that I did my best to work it in with the quilting.

Also, keep in mind that quilting that doesn't cross over on itself is best as there is less chance of getting pleats. A puzzle meander is usually the easiest, however, the piano key type quilting on a border also takes up a lot of fullness. Sometimes the miters are off as well.

Good luck,

Kay