I bought a panel- when I cut the main panel out, it is not square.Top and bottom are OK. Sides are off by 1/2" and 3/4". I've taken a picture of the complimentary fabrics I bought.

Can you help me figure out how to disguise the issue and help me with some borders and how to accent this. I have the pieces I cut off the top and bottom to use for the last corner blocks.

Thanks!

Barb

i can't help you with the final panel..but i have found they are mostly all that way! i don't buy them much anymore.

and i certainly don't prewash them!

it sure is beautiful!

I would cut it down to the gold and add the borders there. Does that help to square it up some?

oh wait..take black, it is black/Blue on the outside right?
and make the sashing for it..
Then measure from the gold and square it up from there maybe?

i more pic.

Have you pulled it on the diagonal? Used spray starch and steam?
After those two things, pin it to you mat in the correct size (lots of pins) and spray it again. Be patient while it dries.

it's blue and gold. I just cut it this way when I realized it was out of square. The top and bottom are cut 1/4" for a seam allowance.

Most panels aren't very square. I just eye ball them to make them look right. My quilts don't turn out square either, but I made them for kids and I didn't think that the kids would be checking to see if I made them perfect or not... :-D

I think you need to fold them to find the center and square from the center out. Fons and Porter addressed this issue in their show on PBS just this morning.

yep, I'd trim it down to give myself just enough room to seam it right up to the gold... then do the sashings from there.. Love the panel and ur assorted compliental fabrics!!
I rarely truely square anything... I eyeball it and "it's close enough"!... I"m so bad.... tsktsktsk.. I think I should be sent to my rooom ( sewing room, that is) to think about my bad behavoir of not really measureing and squareing.... .. hehehehehe

funny! i am not bothered by quilts being squared up either..but with panels, your starting out unsquared! lol! at least i start out with squared up blocks..how they end up uneven..is the washer or dryers fault..not mine..oh no..not me! ROFL!

It's a beautiful panel. If you are going to put several "borders" on this then spread the extra needed to square it over them all. Don't try to do it with just one border. The wider the "border" the more you can be off true and not notice so add more of the extra in the wider areas and less in the narrower ones.

For what it is worth that is what I think I would do.

first, I have started with wetting it pretty good and pinned it to the cutting mat to try to square it up. It seems to give pretty good. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I have pinned mine down (or tape them down) squared and sprayed with spray starch. Let it dry and they will block up nicely. Check out this site. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIjZqABo2NY&NR=1

That's a beautiful panel.

I had a similar problem recently. I just pretended like it was correct and cut a 1/4" seam allowance all the way around it and I sewed on borders that it wouldn't be obvious. You could make some wonky stars and use different block sizes of the angels and put them inbetween the wonky stars.

Don't stress, only in a quilt show will they take a tape measure to the quilts. And after it's washed, no one will be able to tell anyway.

If it was me and that was my panel, I would just use that striped fabric and make a mitered border around it like a frame and make it a wall hanging. It's an absolutely gorgeous panel.

Can you trim the blue (or black - what ever it is... LOL) back so it is 1/4" all the way around? Then when you sew on the borders, only the gold will show. It is a really pretty panel though.
I also bought panels and found them to be off too. No amount of starching and stretching when I ironed helped, so I just did the best I could and when it was done, it didn't really show that much. Good luck!

You can do one of two things: 1: trim a graduation so it isn't so noticable, meaning ie: go from 3/16" at the top to 1/4" on the bottom. 2: when you do your 1st border strip, do the same thing but in reverse, have the smaller width at the top and the wider at the bottom. Clear as mud right? I hope this helps. When I first started quilting, baby panels were the rage and none of them were straight...this worked quite nicely.

you should be able to press it into shape. damp it down and stretch it as you iron it dry. just be careful you don't stretch it to far and end up with it being out the other way. I have staightened many things this way.

Get a large piece of styrofoam, cardboard or you can put towels on your bed. Wet the panel and pin it square until it dries. Panels are seldom ever square so you have to either compensate (which doesn't work well and is frustrating) or block them the same way you would block knitted or crocheted items. Personally I use my design board because I know it's square and I can use pins on it easily. Depending on what you square it up on you can use your iron or a hair dryer to help it dry quickly.

My suggestion also. Usually works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-3RIWhBvcA I know this is applique, but it will work on a panel too.

Your fabrics are gorgeous!!!! Good luck!

I used this panel 3 different ways! One I trimmed it down to the gold and then put a border around it and made a small wall hanging. The second one I added three borders and used the blocks in the corners. On the third I trimmed it down to the gold, added a 1-1/2 inch border of the blue fabric that goes with the panel. Then I used the blocks from the panel and separated them with the darker blue fabric and made a backwards "L" (so you just have a block border on the right and bottom of the panel), added two more borders using the striped fabric and the dove fabric that go with the panel and was done. Made a small lap quilt and gave to my sister-in-law!

I had one like that and measured it thru the center, cut my pieces to that, and eased in what needed to be eased. came out perfect.

Every panel I have ever used is out of square - I don't like using them for that reason - Luckily I have been able to cut them out and sash them to work

Trim 1/4 inch from the edge of the gold. When you add the first border, make it about 1/2 inch larger than you actually want. Put the panel fabric on top as you sew and sew exactly on the outside line of the gold. That will get you a straight border. The Navy blue around the panel is just for seam allowance.

My LQS person told me that because the picture is printed on the fabric, they are usually not perfect, the fabric moves when applying the paint, yadda, yadda. Some or worse than others even in the same batch. I was told to put a sashing on them and then square the panel with the sashing on, it will be less noticeable.

I did the Birds and Berries quilt with the panel and it was really off, but the border was little berries kinda scattered so I didn't have a straight line anyway.

Good luck.

Where did you get that beautiful panel? I would love to find one like it! When I make hangings I put the right side up and then put the backing side down and stitch around the sides (the gold in this case) leaving about a 6" opening in the bottom then flip it right side out, batting and all.
That way you dont have to bind it and it will come out perfectly square! Can you email me where you got the panel?
[email protected]. Thanks

I think if I were in your situation with this particular panel, and if I were only putting one wide border on, I would attach it to the panel keeping the panel border uniform, and then do the squaring up on the outside of the outer border.
Hope this makes sense!

I have rarely gotten a straight panel. Always have to fuss with them. I dont know why they cant print them or weave them straight or whatever it is they do.You usually have to cut the borders and all off and get down to the bare bones. Too bad we have to waste them.

After reading this reply, I see catmcclure is totally right!

I've been working with my first one recently, and this is what I did. I doubt anyone but me will ever notice it. Perfectionism is highly overrated.

I just finished a Nancy Halverson Advent Calendar panel that wasn't straight. To yours, I'd add a border or one of the stars - wide enough that when you square THAT border, it's not obvious.

If you can stand one more suggestion, here's mine. I'd not only cut off the dark blue, but I'd cut back the gold border back to the fleur-de-lis corners and the first decorative border - it looks like a beautiful old-fashioned ornate gold frame to me. THEN I'd cut out some wide(r) border strips, maybe 5" wide to accommodate the fleur-de-lis corners, from the center fabric that's on the bottom row of your complementary fabrics photo (dark blue with some stars); lay those underneath the trimmed-to-the-"frame" panel and use a very narrow satin stitch/extratight zigzag in gold metallic thread to affix the panel to this dark blue border; then trim the excess blue border fabric to 1/4 inch from the gold thread stitching. The very few stars that would show on this narrow border would keep my eye's interest, while drawing it outward from the center panel. Then you could easily audition each of the other fabrics for the final border(s) simply by laying the revised panel on top of it.

PART 2 - let me clarify something. I'd cut the gold border off to accommodate the fleur-de-lis corners and the OUTERMOST border - the one that has a white background with looks-like-dark-blue-dashes. If I'm still not making this clear, just let me know. Sorry for any confusion!

My suggestion is to cut the inside edge of the panel down to where it is correct. and then clip off that part that doesn't fit and sew it. Or cut the whole center out and trim it to the right size and then take one of your extra pieces and make a inside border to fit the border that is now on the outside. Maybe! :thumbup:

I think if I was you I would get some of the navy Blue that is there and even it out with that all of the way around. Cut off all of the blue and then block it to the right size you need to even it out.

I think I would cut it down to the gold once I measured the picture to the gold to make sure it would then square up. Then I would pick a color out of the picture likr yhr red or maroon on the horses face piece, not the reins (you can tell I'm a city girl).

[quote=joanelizbay]Where did you get that beautiful panel? I would love to find one like it!

An eBay seller has several of this same panel on Buy It Now for $3.50 each with free s/h. Her seller name is hauseraud. I bought two panels from her.

I learned a trick in home Economics that may help. This usually takes two people. Each of you gently grab the opposite corners with one hand (both use left hands) and gently pull against each other, then you grab next to your hand, with the other hand moving to the right. (each of you moves to your own right.) Gently pull again. Move hand over hand, until you reach the other person's starting point. Measure again. What you are doing is re-aligning the threads to make it square. You can repeat the process until you get a square measurement. Once you get a square, press with spray sizing to keep it square until the project is finished. I press and use the spray sizing a couple times to lock everything into it's new position, before I do any folding, trimming, or sewing. I have used it a couple times on pricier fabrics that were wonky, so my money wasn't wasted. I hope this fixes it for you. :thumbup:

I would pull it on the diagonal to try to get it straighter. If that doesn't do, pin it down and load it up with starch and manuipulate the fabric. If these don't completely work, they should help enough to adjust the next binding to even it up without showing. Trim your panel evenly all the way around