Lucy S.

I just squared up my quilt and applied binding. Everything was laying flat before binding and now after binding, the edges are slightly wavy. Is there anything I can do to correct this? It is queen sized and hand quilted with a finished 6 inch border.

Peckish

I'm wondering if the binding was pulled while it was being sewn on. This happened to me once, I ended up completely re-doing the binding.

Mad Mimm

I had that problem too with my early bindings - I was using too tight a grip on the fabric and it was being stretched as I was holding it to sew into place. Once I started relaxing my hands and using a softer hold on the quilt, it got better.

Lori S

It would seem like you stretched the binding as you were applying it. This is not that uncommon , particulary if you were using a binding that was cut from the width of the fabric, as there is more stretch on the cross grain.

Scissor Queen

Did you put the binding on with a walking foot? That can really help.

117becca

i will still pin the binding in a couple places along each side to keep from stretching the binding.

QuiltE

ITA with the others that it may be the binding and the way it was applied.

You did say "slightly" wavy ... that's hard for us to know "how" wavy it has become.
There is a possibility that you might be able to block it into submission .... spritz with water and press gently with the iron.
However, it may not remove the problem ... and resurface after washing.

Sally J

Using a walking foot will really help. Don't pull to much on the binding, like the other said that may be what's happening. I always use cross grain and have never had a problem. I always hand sew the binding on the back, I tried machine stitching once and it just didn't look good and was harder to keep it from waving. Like FMQ, practice is key. Make some sample small sandwiches to practice everything including getting the corners right. Good luck

Prism99

Things that help prevent this are: (1) heavily starching the binding fabric before cutting strips, (2) cutting binding strips on the straight-grain instead of the cross-grain or bias, (3) placing binding on top while sewing, (4) using a walking foot.

I also do something most quilters don't. When I square up, I mark the square with a permanent Sharpie pen instead of cutting. I use the line as my "virtual" edge when sewing on binding, and cut the quilt only after I have sewed the binding on. (Be *very* careful when cutting the corners, as you do not want to cut any of the binding that is there.) In my experience, this helps stabilize the quilt edge while attaching binding.