Quilt Backing Dilemma

[Margo C.]

I hadn't even thought of trying to get the label straight. I have added any labels so far. I have signed my quilts but I want to start making labels too. I plan to search for Margo's instructions on labels. I read them before but I forget. Labels are next on my list of new things to do.
Maybe her instructions will tell how to keep them straight.

[Margo C.]

I have made a label for EVERY quilt I've ever made, but I usually do the fastest thing for me, which is to print them out on my computer onto fabric!

There are instructions here: http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Book-...922&sr=8-1

And here: http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/image...ects/10069.pdf

[Betty J.]

Until this discussion, I thought it was something to do with using my domestic machine to quilt that make my squared up tops come out somewhat askew and have to be resquared after blocking and before binding. My landscape/pictoral quilts on the other hand are all wonky and have no form of besquaredness (I just made up that word) :lol: until after I finish quilting them. I thought if I had a longarm that would change. So how do people have such wonderfully perfected borders and great pieced backs? :roll: I've seen them at shows. They DO exist. :shock: I'll bet Margo has some.

[Margo C.]

BJ, even on a long-arm, there is some stretching involved. Think about it. If you pull on any piece of fabric it will stretch a different amount in 3 different directions; lenghtwise grain, crosswise grain, and bias. Depending on how the fabric is mounted on the long-arm, you will get a different amount of stretch horizontally and vertically. Add in piecing, and you have a third element of distortion with bias seams!! And the appliqué, with the grain of the fabric often going in yet another direction! So, what's a quilter to do??? First of all, I find that starching helps with the piecing and applique, but I seldom starch my backs unless they are pieced. Yes....this particular back was starched because of all the bias seams, and it still stretched significantly in one area. I'm still learning how to deal with those issues. ops:

Also....you won't wind up with a square quilt if you don't start with a square quilt top! Every step of the construction process should be checked to see that you are making the sides the same length as the center measurements , whether the quilt is a square or a rectangle.

For domestic machine quilting, I pin baste my quilts close enough that any place I put my hand on the pinned quilt sandwich, I'm touching at least one, and preferably two safety pins. On my long-arm, I use Superior's Vanish thread to baste horizontal lines about 4-5 inches apart over the whole quilt.
I can't help you with the hand quilting projects, except to say that they need to be securely basted.

On both my domestic machine and my long-arm, my first stitching is to stabilize the entire quilt by stitching horizontally and vertically in the ditch evenly over the whole quilt. I try to have this stabilizing stitching no more than 8 inches apart, but realize that's not always possible. I also securely SID the borders and the outside edges of the quilt. Then I go back and add more detail stitching over the whole quilt and finally go over it again to do the background fills, trying to keep the density of the quilting even over the entire quilt.

After the quilting is done, I wash my quilt in the washing machine. I first soak it in cold water for about 1/2 hour to remove any chemicals. Remember, I usually use starch, and Crayola WASHABLE markers, and Vanish thread that all need to be removed. Then I spin that water out and run it through a regular light cycle with warm water and Orvus Paste, and usually do one extra rinse cycle to be sure all the chemicals are gone.

When the quilt is finished washing, I block it to get it back into square. I have a vinyl floor in my sewing room that has a grid pattern on it, and can just spread the wet quilt out flat and line it up with the marks on the floor. I pat it into shape and let it dry overnight. My quilts are then pretty square.

Some people will wait until after blocking to add the binding, but I bind mine before I wash it, and so far it's worked well for me. This is not the only way to get a square quilt, but it's what works for me. I hope you find methods that work for you!

[Betty J.]

Margo, Thanks! Very clear description.

[Betty J.]

Margo, If you aren't a teacher you should be. You would be great and if I lived near you I would take your class.

[Jo H.]

Margo, do you put anything else in your cold water soak or just plain water?

I've been thinking and studying fabric after getting it wet. Some of the fabrics I soaked in cold water first and pretty much always had perfectly clear water after 15 minutes. Next test, I filled the basin with warm water and a tiny bit of orvus paste and then added the fabric back into it. The water almost always regardless of fabric had some discharge of color into the water. I tried this on about 15 different fabrics and they all did the same thing which I found quite interesting and puzzling at the same time. None of the fabrics bled into my white monitor piece of fabric that I had in with the test fabric, but it was still interesting to see if there was anything I could add to the water to NOT get the fabric to release dye. I couldn't find anything that didn't encourage it to do so. I even tried my organic laundry detergent I get from Shaklee and it did the same as the orvus paste -- some of the dye in the fabric released into the water but only after a cleanser was added.

Maybe I'm the only one that has experienced this. I hand wash all my fabric in my laundry room and it has a white tub so it's great for seeing what's going on with the fabrics. Now what I wonder is why some fabrics will release dye that doesn't do anything to other fabrics and why some release dye that changes the color of surrounding fabrics. I'm thinking out loud here -- could it be that it only affects fabrics that it directly rubs on? I'm thinking this because of the one piece of fabric that was ruined recently that gradiated from black to grey to white. The black in the fabric attached itself in blobs to the white in the same fabric. I'm thinking that perhaps this is where the black fabric was laying on top of those particular areas.

It's interesting to try and figure it out even if I may never know the answers.

[Margo C.]

Hmmmmm.....

My first rinse with cold water is to remove any marking pens and starch and Vanish and glue, and I've never really checked about dyes discharging, because I've been testing for that all along by pre-washing and checking as I starch, which shows any discharge.

I do know that some fabrics will discharge dye into the water with no harm done, and others will discharge dye that will migrate to other fabrics. That is what Synthrapol will prevent. It chemically causes all fibers to repel any dyes in solution. http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/en...chemicals.html

I like using Orvus Paste because I feel like it rinses out of the fibers, but didn't realize that it might be causing some discharge. :? I'll have to pay more attention! http://www.farmandfleet.com/products...aste_soap.html
Not only is it good for the quilts, but it's really economical! (Read: cheap!) I get mine at the local farmer's co-op!

So....I guess I have no answers for you.... :roll:

[Margo C.]

Margo, I saw a quilt today at the second-hand store and it wasn't quilted very well, but that didn't stop whoever made it. It was made out of stiff material and quilted with large uneven stitches and the seams didn't match, but I almost bought it. It made me sad to see it there unloved. It was a big quilt that someone put a lot of love into, maybe they can't see too well anymore, maybe they were new...I stood there feeling of it and thinking I ought to take it home, but I didn't.
Don't all "unknown quilter" quilts make you wonder what the story is? Even the not so great ones.

[Margo C.]

Margo, If you aren't a teacher you should be. You would be great and if I lived near you I would take your class.

She would too! She is my sister and she talks about you all the time.

[Margo C.]

Don't all "unknown quilter" quilts make you wonder what the story is? Even the not so great ones.

Absolutely, cpblay! That's why one of my soapboxes is that every quilt deserves a label!! Quilts can't talk so we need to give them a voice! And some of the oddest quilts probably have some of the best stories!

[Margo C.]

Margo...questions? You don't dry your quilts in the dryer? I thought the dryer helped get that puckery look. Also, I have three cats, floor is out of the question, but, could the quilt be hung on the design wall, pinned in place to block it? Sandi in FL

[Margo C.]

You are absolutely right, Sandi! And I should have said that in my explanation. The quilts that I block are the ones that will be hanging in a show (or in this case be on display in assorted TQS booths with Alex Anderson for the next year!) and they need to be square and flat so that they look as crisp as I can get them after being washed. The chemicals have got to be washed out and the starch I use during construction makes them so stiff I can hardly fold them into a shipping box!

Most of my quilts are meant to be used and loved to death, and they go from the washer right into the dryer for that comfy "puckery" look. This is not the same look as stitched in puckers! That's a different animal! :lol: The comfy "puckery" look does not do well in shows, so show quilts must be handled differently.

I have never tried to block a quilt on the wall, but I'm sure that it would work if you use enough pins. The weight of a full size wet quilt would be difficult to work with, so you might want to get someone to help you hold it as you pin it. Be sure to use something to get it square. Laser lights work well, if you have access to one, or for smaller quilts, a large square-up acrylic ruler is good. Or you could mark straight lines and square corners with string before you begin pinning. That's one reason I chose the floor covering that I did for my sewing room!

Hope that answers your question and thanks for reminding me that I needed to explain it further!

[Margo C.]

Hi, I've never posted before, but I enjoy reading the forum. Thank you to the many knowledgeable members always willing to share.

Margo, I read your advice about using Synthrapol. I have a bottle of Retayne that I haven't used yet and I am confused about when to use the Retayne or the Synthrapol. On the website you posted, they almost sound like they do the same thing. I'm wondering if you or anyone else has any advice on the two products.

Thanks so much,

Debbie Kendall
Spring, Texas

[Kathryn S.]

Hi Debbie, Synthrapol is used for hand-dyed or batik fabrics to keep the dye that comes out of the fabric from depositing on other fabrics or back on the fabric you are washing. Retayne is used for commercially dyed fabrics to keep the dye from coming off the fabric in the first place. When I wash some of my batiks in Synthrapol, a ton of dye often goes into the wash water! I didn't use to prewash fabrics, but since I love batiks and hand-dyes, I now do, to avoid a surprise after the quilt is finished.

Dharma trading, where I buy my dyes, has lots of useful info on their website about both products. I'm sure that the other popular dye websites have similar information.

Kathy

[quote/]
Margo, I read your advice about using Synthrapol. I have a bottle of Retayne that I haven't used yet and I am confused about when to use the Retayne or the Synthrapol. On the website you posted, they almost sound like they do the same thing. I'm wondering if you or anyone else has any advice on the two products.



Debbie Kendall
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