Snoopy1956

Hi all, I am putting together a friendship quilt for our library. Blocks came in from library members. They were told (not by me), that the blocks should be 8 x 8. Some were, but the majority were smaller, and a lot of them were really wonky. I cut them all down to 7 3/4” square, so things are looking up. My one problem is one of the blocks has a patch on it that’s right in the seam line. It’s really thick, and I can’t get it off. I am putting sashing strips between all the blocks. It’s just that one block that’s tripping me up. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

bearisgray

Could you ask that person to remake that block?

kristijoy

I haven't done this myself, but I've read on blogs that long-armer's pound the thick seam allowances with a hammer to flatten them out... I would definitely cover it with something before I started whacking away!

Tartan

Do you mean the patch extends over into the seam allowance? If it is the whole seam allowance, would it be enough to trim the block background fabric from under the patch and use the patch as the seam allowance?

Snoopy1956

I actually answered my own question! I read up on how to remove a glued on patch from fabric. It said to use an iron on the hottest setting, press for 15 seconds, then peal it off. I just pealed a little bit off and trimmed a little section off, just enough so I could sew the sashing on. Phew! Thanks everyone for your input 😊

kristijoy

Oh my gosh! I misunderstood what you meant by a patch! I bunch of glue! Now I see what was the trouble. Glad you solved the issue!

Jingle

Great idea. I am so glad you found the solution.

Snoopy1956

Hi, it’s me again with the library quilt project. The librarian in charge of this project doesn’t want to use batting so the quilt won’t be so heavy. I am going to just put a backing on it. I was thinking of using spray baste, but I wonder if I should use pins as well? I don’t have a lot of experience with spray basting.

Jennifer23

What is the quilt going to be used for? If it's going to be a wall hanging, skipping the batting might affect how it hangs (making it saggy).

Iceblossom

Spray baste takes a bit to get used to -- I think most people over spray at first. Read and understand your particular product, but basically if you can see it you've over sprayed! If you are having problems with your needle getting gummy, you've over sprayed. Usually you can just let the project sit out for a week or two and let some of the spray dissipate, but that isn't so good if you are on a time crunch.

I still use spray baste and have a couple partial cans remaining, I want to try glue but I understand that works better with warm and natural type batting than the poly batts I use. I typically will put in a few safety pins to hold things together until I get some stabilizing quilting in, but only a few here and there, particularly in the corners if I'm starting in the center of the quilt.

As Jennifer23 asked, how is this going to be used? As a wall hanging you will probably get some different advice than for a blanket.