What did I do wrong?
 

I am soooo frustrated. I'm making a quilt. Square in a square. Inner
border. Outer border with mitered corners. I just finished putting the
outside border on and laid it flat on the carpeting. The square in a square
part is "bunchy"... looks like there's excess there and doesn't lay
perfectly flat. It's like the inner border is too small. I measured across
the middle when measuring for the inner border. I thought it might be the
mitered corners. I took those out - no difference. Could I have stretched
the middle? How? When ironing?

I'm not going to be quilting this project. I'm passing it off to another
mom to quilt and then we're donating it. I'm embarrassed to give it to her.

Is there any way I can correct this at this point?

--
Gina in IL
http://community.webshots.com/user/dgelias

Ironing could do it. I have a block with "bubbles" and think it's from
ironing rather than pressing. Could you wash the top and then press the
seams to get it looking correct?

--
Mary
http://community.webshots.com/user/mardor1948
"Eli" wrote in message
...
I am soooo frustrated. I'm making a quilt. Square in a square. Inner
border. Outer border with mitered corners. I just finished putting the
outside border on and laid it flat on the carpeting. The square in a square
part is "bunchy"... looks like there's excess there and doesn't lay
perfectly flat. It's like the inner border is too small. I measured across
the middle when measuring for the inner border. I thought it might be the
mitered corners. I took those out - no difference. Could I have stretched
the middle? How? When ironing?

I'm not going to be quilting this project. I'm passing it off to another
mom to quilt and then we're donating it. I'm embarrassed to give it to her.

Is there any way I can correct this at this point?

--
Gina in IL
http://community.webshots.com/user/dgelias

Okay now I'm getting confused. What's the difference between ironing and
pressing?

--
Sharon From Melbourne Australia (Queen of Down Under)
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/index.html

"Mary in Oregon" wrote in message
...
Ironing could do it. I have a block with "bubbles" and think it's from
ironing rather than pressing. Could you wash the top and then press the
seams to get it looking correct?

--
Mary
http://community.webshots.com/user/mardor1948
"Eli" wrote in message
...
I am soooo frustrated. I'm making a quilt. Square in a square. Inner
border. Outer border with mitered corners. I just finished putting the
outside border on and laid it flat on the carpeting. The square in a
square
part is "bunchy"... looks like there's excess there and doesn't lay
perfectly flat. It's like the inner border is too small. I measured
across
the middle when measuring for the inner border. I thought it might be the
mitered corners. I took those out - no difference. Could I have
stretched
the middle? How? When ironing?

I'm not going to be quilting this project. I'm passing it off to another
mom to quilt and then we're donating it. I'm embarrassed to give it to
her.

Is there any way I can correct this at this point?

--
Gina in IL
http://community.webshots.com/user/dgelias

ironing is a back and forth motion with the iron... pressing is holding the
iron in place while it steams a seam. Moving the iron pushes and pulls the
fabric. Clear as mud??

--
Mary
http://community.webshots.com/user/mardor1948
"Sharon Harper" wrote in message
...
Okay now I'm getting confused. What's the difference between ironing and
pressing?

--
Sharon From Melbourne Australia (Queen of Down Under)
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/index.html

"Mary in Oregon" wrote in message
...
Ironing could do it. I have a block with "bubbles" and think it's from
ironing rather than pressing. Could you wash the top and then press the
seams to get it looking correct?

--
Mary
http://community.webshots.com/user/mardor1948
"Eli" wrote in message
...
I am soooo frustrated. I'm making a quilt. Square in a square. Inner
border. Outer border with mitered corners. I just finished putting the
outside border on and laid it flat on the carpeting. The square in a
square
part is "bunchy"... looks like there's excess there and doesn't lay
perfectly flat. It's like the inner border is too small. I measured
across
the middle when measuring for the inner border. I thought it might be the
mitered corners. I took those out - no difference. Could I have
stretched
the middle? How? When ironing?

I'm not going to be quilting this project. I'm passing it off to another
mom to quilt and then we're donating it. I'm embarrassed to give it to
her.

Is there any way I can correct this at this point?

--
Gina in IL
http://community.webshots.com/user/dgelias

I thought maybe I was overreacting because it was late last night but it
looks worse this morning... I really think it's un-quiltable. The woman
who's quilting it has a long arm and if it won't lay flat, can she quilt it?
I could cry. It's too late to start another quilt and I've already invested
tons of time and $ in this one...

Gina in IL

"Mary in Oregon" wrote in message
...
Ironing could do it. I have a block with "bubbles" and think it's from
ironing rather than pressing. Could you wash the top and then press the
seams to get it looking correct?

--
Mary
http://community.webshots.com/user/mardor1948
"Eli" wrote in message
...
I am soooo frustrated. I'm making a quilt. Square in a square. Inner
border. Outer border with mitered corners. I just finished putting the
outside border on and laid it flat on the carpeting. The square in a
square
part is "bunchy"... looks like there's excess there and doesn't lay
perfectly flat. It's like the inner border is too small. I measured
across
the middle when measuring for the inner border. I thought it might be the
mitered corners. I took those out - no difference. Could I have
stretched
the middle? How? When ironing?

I'm not going to be quilting this project. I'm passing it off to another
mom to quilt and then we're donating it. I'm embarrassed to give it to
her.

Is there any way I can correct this at this point?

--
Gina in IL
http://community.webshots.com/user/dgelias

Eli wrote:
I thought maybe I was overreacting because it was late last night but it
looks worse this morning... I really think it's un-quiltable. The woman
who's quilting it has a long arm and if it won't lay flat, can she quilt it?
I could cry. It's too late to start another quilt and I've already invested
tons of time and $ in this one...


Your quilt can be quilted. Pin baste the heck out it. Put the pins 2
inches apart over the worst of the poofy parts. Even one inch apart.
Now machine quilt it normally. That means first dividing it into
sections by quilting long lines that transverse the whole quilt, then
going back to quilt more heavily within the sections. The very worst
that will happen to a misshapen, poofy quilt that won't lie flat is that
you'll get tiny pin tucks on the surface of the quilt. That's not the
end of the world. I suggest Warm & Natural batting. I had far more
trouble with poofy and pin tucks the one time I used a polyester batt.


--Lia

"Eli" wrote in message
...
I thought maybe I was overreacting because it was late last night but it
looks worse this morning... I really think it's un-quiltable. The woman
who's quilting it has a long arm and if it won't lay flat, can she quilt
it?
I could cry. It's too late to start another quilt and I've already
invested

Ask the longarmer if she can quilt it. Believe me, we all see "double D cup"
quilts on a regular basis, and can often perform minor miracles. She'll be
able to tell you if this top is in the minor miracle category or if it needs
a major miracle. Depending on her experience, she also might be able to
recommend some fixes -- unfortunately, we can't see it and tug on it here
and there, so it's a bit harder for us to tell you.

As to future quilts, IMHO the key to a flat quilt is keeping it flat all
along the way. Measure and cut accurately. Sew accurately. Press accurately.
And check for flatness all along the way -- each time you sew two pieces
together and press them, look at how they are laying on the ironing board.
If there's a bobble, deal with it right then.

It sounds like you measured your borders, which is really great. So many of
my customers make a beautifully flat quilt into one that has edges like an
amusement park ride because they are sure they don't need to measure. But
one extra step you might want to take is to measure not just the middle, but
measure in three places. I'd still use the middle measurement, but if the
measurements are quite a bit off from each other, you'll know you have a
problem.

Good luck!

I called the quilter and I'm going to see her tomorrow. She was very
reassuring and I feel better (slightly). I'm going to put it away and not
get it out or think about it. I really think it must have been when I
joined the rows together. I must have ironed instead of pressed.

Thanks all for the advice - hopefully she will think it's okay enough to
quilt.

Gina in IL

"Kathy Applebaum" wrote in message
om...

"Eli" wrote in message
...
I thought maybe I was overreacting because it was late last night but it
looks worse this morning... I really think it's un-quiltable. The
woman
who's quilting it has a long arm and if it won't lay flat, can she quilt
it?
I could cry. It's too late to start another quilt and I've already
invested

Ask the longarmer if she can quilt it. Believe me, we all see "double D
cup"
quilts on a regular basis, and can often perform minor miracles. She'll be
able to tell you if this top is in the minor miracle category or if it
needs
a major miracle. Depending on her experience, she also might be able to
recommend some fixes -- unfortunately, we can't see it and tug on it here
and there, so it's a bit harder for us to tell you.

As to future quilts, IMHO the key to a flat quilt is keeping it flat all
along the way. Measure and cut accurately. Sew accurately. Press
accurately.
And check for flatness all along the way -- each time you sew two pieces
together and press them, look at how they are laying on the ironing board.
If there's a bobble, deal with it right then.

It sounds like you measured your borders, which is really great. So many
of
my customers make a beautifully flat quilt into one that has edges like an
amusement park ride because they are sure they don't need to measure. But
one extra step you might want to take is to measure not just the middle,
but
measure in three places. I'd still use the middle measurement, but if the
measurements are quite a bit off from each other, you'll know you have a
problem.

Good luck!

Absolutely! Thankx

--
Sharon From Melbourne Australia (Queen of Down Under)
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/index.html

"Mary in Oregon" wrote in message
...
ironing is a back and forth motion with the iron... pressing is holding
the
iron in place while it steams a seam. Moving the iron pushes and pulls
the
fabric. Clear as mud??

--
Mary
http://community.webshots.com/user/mardor1948
"Sharon Harper" wrote in message
...
Okay now I'm getting confused. What's the difference between ironing and
pressing?

--
Sharon From Melbourne Australia (Queen of Down Under)
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/index.html

"Mary in Oregon" wrote in message
...
Ironing could do it. I have a block with "bubbles" and think it's from
ironing rather than pressing. Could you wash the top and then press the
seams to get it looking correct?

--
Mary
http://community.webshots.com/user/mardor1948
"Eli" wrote in message
...
I am soooo frustrated. I'm making a quilt. Square in a square. Inner
border. Outer border with mitered corners. I just finished putting the
outside border on and laid it flat on the carpeting. The square in a
square
part is "bunchy"... looks like there's excess there and doesn't lay
perfectly flat. It's like the inner border is too small. I measured
across
the middle when measuring for the inner border. I thought it might be
the
mitered corners. I took those out - no difference. Could I have
stretched
the middle? How? When ironing?

I'm not going to be quilting this project. I'm passing it off to
another
mom to quilt and then we're donating it. I'm embarrassed to give it to
her.

Is there any way I can correct this at this point?

--
Gina in IL
http://community.webshots.com/user/dgelias

Eli:
Perhaps the problem lies in how you attached the first border. It
is important to place the quilt center on a flat surface so it is
fully supported, then layer the border on it so it is also fully
supported. THEN you pin. You do not drape it across your lap and
flop the border over it and stick in pins. BTDT ... it is not the
way to do it! So, perhaps you need to unstitch the first border,
gently press the center and the border, and proceed as I
instructed. It just might work.
The Queen HAS Spoken!
PAT in VA/USA

Eli wrote:

I am soooo frustrated. I'm making a quilt. Square in a square. Inner
border. Outer border with mitered corners. I just finished putting the
outside border on and laid it flat on the carpeting. The square in a square
part is "bunchy"... looks like there's excess there and doesn't lay
perfectly flat. It's like the inner border is too small. I measured across
the middle when measuring for the inner border. I thought it might be the
mitered corners. I took those out - no difference. Could I have stretched
the middle? How? When ironing?

I'm not going to be quilting this project. I'm passing it off to another
mom to quilt and then we're donating it. I'm embarrassed to give it to her.

Is there any way I can correct this at this point?