The borders... ack the borders!
Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 1:31PM ;)
So here’s the “newbie” quilt, loaded up on the longarm. If you missed it before, this was the first top I ever pieced (in 2004) and I’d never quilted it.
It’s a mess! In fact I’ve videotaped some of it, and may possibly post a short video on what not to do to your top when sending it out to be quilted… or even if you plan to quilt it yourself!
The entire top is crooked, forget about all the points that are cut off, but the worst part are the borders, which I’d already mentioned being terribly wavy, but I;)
thought I’d leave them on and show you what is possible to quilt out, and what is not.
None of the seams lay flat. They are twisted every which direction, and the loose threads on the back are something else! I went to trim them all off, got overwhelmed, and stopped. I’ve never seen another quilt do this, it looks as if the top got washed after being pieced (it didn’t). The fabrics are RJR fabrics. I’ve never used them since, so I don’t know if they’re problematic, or maybe just because it was in storage so long?
I’m doing the quilt with Baptist Fans. Actually, the borders weren’t too bad until I got to just about the middle of the quilt, which is where I stopped, sprayed the borders heavily with starch, and took a picture. Hopefully, I can starch and shrink the borders up enough to eliminate a good portion of the excess.
On a customer quilt, you’d have to be careful doing this. A), their quilt may not be prewashed, and the fabrics could run, or B) they may not be planning to wash the quilt, and then moths/silverfish would be a problem since they’re attracted to the starch.
Another option would be to insert another section of batting in the full area. Most likely, I will have to take a few tucks in this border.
Reader Comments (5)
Ah ha! I get what you meant when you called this a friendly quilt--it's "waving!" You have the best phrases! It's worth working on this quilt so you can see just how very far you have come. :-) I have no doubt you'll make it more than presentable. Meanwhile, it's cold (white flakes seen!) and stormy here, making it a perfect day to hole up and stitch. Oh, and I figured out the bobbin threading for embroidery!! Thank goodness for the internet and a Bernina posting with pictures.
In my early quilts I had this happen a lot. Now with experience I still have it happen but to a more minor degree. I need to take one border off of my Baltimore Bliss quilt that I made last year and fix it as I noticed when I laid it on the floor to measure it that one side had a wave or two in it! When will I learn to measure and pin exactly LOL
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/
Look how far you've come...
Chalk it all up to "growing"
It's a beautiful quilt CJ. I love the design and colors. Does your long arm have a way to pull that top tight on the sides? I don't see anything in the picture, but perhaps that is just the camera angle.
It's a beautiful quilt CJ. I've used Bonnie (APQS) method to tame rippling borders, and it works! Amazing. I'm looking forward to seeing it quilted. How to you like your new long arm? It looks wonderful in your studio!