Please help...can I save this wallhanging?
#13
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Florida
Posts: 3,845
Quilting does shrink the fabric. Unequally dense quilting results in unequal shrinking. So increase the quilting.
As to blocking: First off-I do art quilts and they are small enough to fit on the tile floor in the spare bathroom. I do the blocking after the quilting is completed and before binding. It helps remove dirt, marking, threads & animal hair/lint as well as relaxing the fabric and quilting. I fill the bathtub and emmerse the quilt for about 1/2 hour. I lay old towels on the tile floor. The I take the quilt out and squeese (do not wring) out the water. Then roll it in a towel and walk all over it. Then lay it on the towels, patting it into place. I do not try to stretch or shrink, just let it be what it wants with some patting. I put a fan on it so it'll dry in a day and close the doors to keep the cats out-they always like fresh laundry. When it's dry I trim the edges to square it up.
As to blocking: First off-I do art quilts and they are small enough to fit on the tile floor in the spare bathroom. I do the blocking after the quilting is completed and before binding. It helps remove dirt, marking, threads & animal hair/lint as well as relaxing the fabric and quilting. I fill the bathtub and emmerse the quilt for about 1/2 hour. I lay old towels on the tile floor. The I take the quilt out and squeese (do not wring) out the water. Then roll it in a towel and walk all over it. Then lay it on the towels, patting it into place. I do not try to stretch or shrink, just let it be what it wants with some patting. I put a fan on it so it'll dry in a day and close the doors to keep the cats out-they always like fresh laundry. When it's dry I trim the edges to square it up.
#16
Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Madison, Ohio
Posts: 226
I am making this wall hanging for my sister (my second attempt) and I keep running into the same problem. Because I quilted the center panel quite extensively around the flowers, etc. the wallhanging has pulled to the middle. So I have this funny shape to the panel. I didn't notice it until way later and I am so disappointed as this was quite a pricy investment and i already ruined one. Is there anything I can do to stretch the middle out? any other suggestions or is my only solution to pull out my seam ripper?
#17
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Keller, TX
Posts: 1,941
I have made several wall hangings and found that dense quilting does cause the problem you are experiencing.
I now do what I call, my anchor quilting around the sections before I do more dense quilting within the "anchored" blocks, squares, rectangles in the quilt. When you outline these sections ( I do start from the center out), then I can go back and quilt "as desired" as they say, within each framed section.This framing of the sections keeps the fabric from drawing up so much when I do the additional quilting. Afraid I'm not very good at explaining....
I now do what I call, my anchor quilting around the sections before I do more dense quilting within the "anchored" blocks, squares, rectangles in the quilt. When you outline these sections ( I do start from the center out), then I can go back and quilt "as desired" as they say, within each framed section.This framing of the sections keeps the fabric from drawing up so much when I do the additional quilting. Afraid I'm not very good at explaining....
#18
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 6,430
Two things come to mind: If the binding is already sewn on, does it need to come off if you are only going to quilt the borders? It does occur to me that the quilt might not be square and that might cause the wonkiness, but it also may be that, as others have suggested, the uneven quilting is causing the strange shape. Also, the advice to dampen the hanging and pin it securely to the carpet and let it dry might just stretch it into shape.
#20
It looks to me like the centr panel should have been squared before the borders were added. Don't know if there's anything you can do about it now. I agree with the others who say leave it alone, and just be aware on th next one.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
craftybear
Links and Resources
6
12-22-2010 05:45 PM
craftybear
Links and Resources
0
12-21-2010 11:39 AM