How do I see "friendly borders" before the quilt is loaded?

[BethDurand]

Okay, stupid question, but what am I missing that I don\'t find these friendly borders until the quilt is loaded and 1/2 quilted? I actually had to take 2 pleats in one yesterday.

Next question. If the fabric is torn, why doesn\'t it tear straight? The backing was 108" wide, so we tore it off the bolt, but it was seriously off when I went to load it up.

Thanks in advance.

Beth

[Quilting Heidi]

Beth,

I normally can see friendly borders by laying out my quilt on a hard surface such as the floor. I will see them waving to me right away. If you laid it out before and didn\'t notice them the only thing I could think is that they are bias and then they would stretch! Try Bonnie\'s steam method to work it back in.

108" fabric is often printed off grain...at least that is my experience. If you tear it it will follow the grain of the fabric but if it as printed crooked then it will not be right. What you can do to try to straighten the fabric is find a friend and each of you grab an opposite diagonal corners and give it a good pull. Work your way down the fabric doing this and it should pull most of the fabric back on grain. I usually try to load the selvage edges on the leaders and not worry too much about the sides.

[Bonnie]

Beth, if you aren\'t sure if they are bias...or will wave at you after two rows....starch and steam the whole quilt before you even get it to the LA....this will keep the bias of the borders and blocks from stretching more and if anything starts to wave or blossom, just hit it again with the steam and it will bring it back into place.

I just finished a totally batik quilt top which I did a total float on, and I have one corner that got really wonky and the other side corner is pulled a bit.....the border started to get wonky as I was coming down...it was because I was trying to keep the same distance edge to edge and in doing that stretched it with my hand...and by the time I got to the bottom corner I was out about 2 inches. It won\'t look bad once I trim it off, but you will see where the body of the quilt dips down a bit. Grrr....sometimes there isn\'t anything we can do about waving borders, or wonky corners...they just happen, but the spray starch does help it stay in place once applied.

For whole back....I do exactly what Heidi suggested....and don\'t be afraid to really pull on it...sometimes it needs someone to get really aggressive.