Blocking a quilt ??

[Norma H.]

I am getting ready to block a wall hanging, and have a couple of questions.
Do I run the quilt through the washing machine, a partially through the dryer, before blocking it on a blocking board.

Or do I blocking it with just spriitzing it.

Thanks for any information about the easiest way to do it.

Margarita

[Nancy R.]

Hi Margarita -

I think there are a lot of ways to do this. I don't block most of my quilts, but the one show quilt I did, here's how I blocked it:

- soak the quilt thoroughly in the bathtub in lukewarm water. I was washing out blue marker and dissolving water-soluable thread so I needed it to soak well and I needed the temperature to be cold enough to keep the pen from getting permanent and warm enough to keep the thread from getting stiff, both problems I had read about ahead of time.

- lift the quilt carefully out of the water. I put mine in a clothes basket to hold the weight of the quilt and keep most of the water from getting onto the floor, although the floors still got wet

- put the quilt in the washer and run it on slow spin to get most of the water out

- spread the quilt on top of a sheet on the carpeted floor. Straighten out the edges and pin to the floor with T-pins.

That worked well for me.

Nancy

[Hannelore N.]

I rarely block my quilts, but a friend of mine spreads out her quilts, then uses a steam iron. She uses the maximum setting for steam, and then 'hovers' over the quilt, very close, but not actually touching. She then does the same as Nancy: pinning to a carpet that is fitted and doesn't shift, then leaves it to dry completely (sometimes several days). Because she has a couple of quilt-loving cats, she then has to vacuum the quilt because the cats have been all over it whilst it was drying.