janeta Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 How does everyone keep from ending up with tucks in the backs of their quilts. I try so hard and almost always end up with a small tuck somewhere in the backing. I have started quilting for others now and want to know how you deal with this. Do customers get upset? Do you rip it all out? Help! I need some input about this. Janet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 I will chime in with a few ideas for you, but I am sure there are more tips and advice from others, and I hope they add their $.02, too. Check to make sure your backing fabric is square and lays straight on the frame. If you are planning to do custom work, meaning changing threads a lot and roll back and forth, up and down, several times throughout the quilting process then you need to stabilize the quilt. Pin baste every 5-6 inches, plus the borders and prior to quilting, remove the pins when you begin to quilt that area. That helps keep the fabric from shifting around. If you Stitch in Ditch around the blocks/or sashing that will also stabilize the quilt and then you can remove the pins. But I always keep my borders pinned on the sides until I am ready to quilt those, which is generally the last thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 Everthing that Shana said and then I double check to see that the backer is flat. If get tucks in the back its because I didn't look underneath the machine to see if I had a sagging back. When I tighten it up a bit and have a smooth back, I never get tucks regardless if I baste or not. I also use the side clamps on the backing and batting...some don't do that...its the only way I can keep tucks from the back. Tighten up the backer and use the clamps was the answer for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melora Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 I used to have this problem especially when I floated a top. Now I never float and for me the key is securing the sides. Bekkah made these Holders? out of left over material and a yardstick. I pin those to the sides and I have even tension not just at the clamps so I have had no tucks. Good Luck, Melora Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewhappy Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 jjsmom- Awhile back someone posted a utube on how to get a square flat back-maybe that would help! I am sorry I don't know the name- sewhappy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skrat Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 That youtube is by lalawson. You can type in the search bar on youtube.com and it will come up. There is one to square the back on a flat surface and also one to square your back on your longarm machine. They are both great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona-quilter Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 Hi jjsmom, Yeah, those tucks are a giant PITA. I agree with the advice above for the most part. I float all my quilts. I sometimes thread baste vice pin basting like Shana. Probably pin basting is easier to remove and less likely to get hung up on the hopping foot as I do not remove my basting until the quilt is done. If I am doing front of the machine work, I can see the basting so I know where to be careful. But I don't always stabilize, like for freemo or panto, I don't want to slow down to remove thread or pins. Most of the time, I just make sure that my side clamps have good purchase on that backer. I stopped clamping the batting with backing when I had a HUGE PUCKER in a king-size quilt. The pucker was down the center of the quilt and was 3 foot long and I used a Leaf Pile panto. Lots of stitching to frog. The clamp slipped off the backing but stayed on the batting. Unfortunately, I had been lazy (and stupid) :mad: and did not trim the batting enough or make sure that my backing was wider that my batting. So I could not really see the backing; I just flipped over the excess batting and clamped the folded batting and the backing (I thought). That was further compounded by the fact that I had turned off my overhead lighting so I did not notice the pucker for 2 rolss of the quilt. When I finally turned on the lights, I just wanted to weep. I had a ripping party with 2 other friends and it took 3 of us about 6 hours to rip that perfect tension 10 spi quilting out. Do customers get upset? Do you rip it all out? Yeah, so the answer to your question about whether you rip it out is a resounding "YES". My happy customers tell 2 or 3 of their friends about my work. I imagine that unhappy customers tell the world about my work. I just imagine how I would feel if I paid to have a quilt done and it came back with puckers. I would never go back to that quilter again. Un-quilting is my least favorite thing about my business. If you factor in all the hours spent on this quilt, it was probably less than minimum wage to get it done. I believe that part of my job is to make quilts look beautiful, even if they were not perfectly pieced. I don't pass the cost of my mistakes off to my customers. I suck it up and invite friends over for a ripping party. I've only done this once but it made a lasting impression.:D:P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 I echo all the good advice above. But you are at the mercy of the customer and her skills in squaring the backer. I learned all this--probably here--so I will share back! Tucks are quilted into the backer when it sags. Kind of an obvious statement, huh?!! So my hint would be, make sure the backer has no dips or sags. Try to load a pieced backer with the piecing running horizontally. Less chance of sag and usually the selvedges are on so it is easy to pin on straight. If it must be loaded with the seam running vertical, as it is loading twist the seam with your palm as it is slowly loaded. This seems to loosen the seam a little. If the selvedges are still on the seam, clip them completely off or snip them every inch or so. The selvedges are tightly woven and will cause sag on either side of the seam if not removed. Warn your customer that next time you will charge her for this "service"! If you have a backer with multiple blocks (so popular now with artsy piecers as well as frugal ones) load the backer whichever way looks best and deal with sags as they come. When the top is advanced check underneath for a droopy side. Take lengths of batting, a piece of foam, or a clean towel and "take up the slack" on the saggy side by placing the batting where the quilted top is being rolled onto the take-up roller. This is only in the area of sag, not all the way across. When you have a backer that is flat all the way across, you are ready to stitch. After stitching, remove the stuffer--don't be like me and forget to take out--it looks like you rolled the cat up into the quilt! My personal preference now is to stuff that filler piece under and inside the bottom front roller to deal with the droop. I don't need to go to the back---and when I roll, the stuffer falls on the floor! Some of us can't learn so we find the easiest way!!! Hope this helps and have a great time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsbishwit Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 I have never had any problems with tucks in the back of the quilts I do. The no fail steps that I take are, 1) square up all backs even if the customer swears there backs are square they never are to our standards so do it everytime yourself. 2) But even though you may have a really square back sometimes the canvases on the rollers may be stretched a bit over time so that also may cause some sagging in the backings, so to help with those issues I use Donota Reeves "Temporary Clamps" you can buy a set of 8 for only $24 and you can use them over and over again sinece they are made from PVC. If there is slack in my back in an area I will put 1 or more clamps on the backing roller where the sag in the back is occurring and then I twist the clamp towards the back of the machine and it pulls up the extra slag to make it smooth. Somethings it will require more than 1 clamp in that one area to pull up the slack to make it smooth but the result is a smooth quilt back, no tucks in back, and happy customers. However make sure you take off the clamps before advancing the quilt or the clamps will fly off the roller with a loud pop:o Here's the website you can buy them at www.lovetoquilt.com they are listed under accesories and are called temporay clamps...one of the best investments I have ever made for my machine and business. Yes, customers do not like to pay $50 or more on quilting only to have their quilts returned to them with tucks, bunching of batting or rips caused by the longarm quilter that wasn't due to the piecing inperfections of their own. I have gained alot of my customer base as a result to these problems that other longarmers were doing in my area. Also customers may not also tell the longarmer that they are upset with the results of your quilting but they will take their business else where and discourage their friends from taking their quilts to you because of it. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnHenry Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 I took a business seminar one time, and the teacher said, "Research indicates that a satisfied customer tells about 2 or 3 people while a dissatisfied customer tells about 10 people." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 "You're only as good as the quilt you just finished." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 Originally posted by ffq-lar My personal preference now is to stuff that filler piece under and inside the bottom front roller to deal with the droop. I don't need to go to the back---and when I roll, the stuffer falls on the floor! Some of us can't learn so we find the easiest way!!! Awesome advice, Linda! I will use this if I need to in the future! PS: You cracked me up about "rolling the cat" in the quilt. ROFLOL!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janeta Posted July 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 Thanks for all the advice. I do pin, pin, pin and I have used Bonnie's steam method, plus stuffing a piece of scrap batting under the roll to take up the slack. It seems that I get these tucks when I wait to do the side borders til last. I had one tiny tuck in a customer quilt this week and she said if I hadn't told her she would never have found it. I offered to take it out but she was fine with it. I stressed that it would not hurt my feelings and that my goal is to have satisfied customers. She stated that she could never do the quilting like I did and that she will continue to bring me quilts. This was my second for her and she says she will have another ready in the next couple of weeks. Janet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollyc Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 don't grab the batting when you grab the backing. Only grab the backing with the orange clamps, it easier to get a back without wrinkles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sams Mom Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 I had my first tuck on the back this week and I think it was from adjusting (pulling) the batting to center it and not checking it afterward on the back. Hope this helps. Donna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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