squareing a quilt
 

How do you square a quilt ???

Never done it myself. I just make sure my blocks/rows are even with each other and the edges. At that point, unless your borders are wonky I'd think it would be 'squared'. Might need to do some pressing but that's all I ever do.

I never square either. I work really hard to keep my blocks squared. Sometimes my quilts may be larger or smaller than the pattern says it should be (not more than inch or two) but as long as it is even, I don't worry about it. I also cut my borders longer than I will need and after attaching them, I trim off the excess. My quilts aren't going into shows so it isn't a great concern to me!

I have used two pieces of 4x8 foam insulation (like from Lowe's or Home Depot), tape them together along the 8' side, then pin the quilt to it, aligning two sides of the quilt along the already straight edge of the foam boards, then measure/find the opposing corner, place a straight pin there, then run string/yarn around all four sides of the quilt. Hope that makes sense?

We were taught to use our borders to square the quilt. When you're ready to add borders, measure through the center horizontally and cut two borders to that length. Find the middle of the top and bottom of the quilt and mark/pin/finger press it, then find the middle of the border and mark it. Pin the centers together, then pin along one side, then the other, matching up the corners. Sew the border strip on with the quilt on the bottom and the border on the top. When top and bottom are on, use the same procedure to add side borders. We've never had anything way out of square.

I don't know what to do if you make a quilt with no borders.

Darren

I use the same method for adding border & then use my square ruler to line up border seam when trimming the outer edges before binding.

It depends on the quilt & at what point you're trying to square it up. If it's still a top and you're squaring it to add a border--you measure through the center vertically & horizontally and cut & fit the borders to "square." If it's all ready quilted and you're trimming it to square before adding the binding--I use a carpenters square. If it is all ready finished, you have to get it wet and "block" it out like a sweater and that will only work if it's not too wonky. If it's really warped--the animal shelter will love it or keep it as an emergency/picnic quilt in the trunk of the car.