Wrinkle on Back FMQ
 

I'm working on quilting a lap quilt. When I finished the section I was working on I looked on the back and there was a wrinkle about 4" long. Has anyone had that happen? This is only the third time I've done FMQ.

Yes, in almost every quilt, doesn't matter how I baste and how many pins I use. With my last quilt I thought I didn't have any but when I looked I saw at least one. I just leave it as it is. On the next quilt I might try glue basting and see if that works.

Sigh. Yeah. Either there weren't enough pins or the backing wasn't smooth enough.

Machine wash, tumble try. After that you won't even see it.

I agree with JulieR. After washing and drying, it'll disappear. I had that problem until I started using Elmer's School Glue. I can't remember who on the board came up with the idea, but whoever it was, she is a genius! If you do a search on this site, I'm sure you'll find it.

I have had no problems with the 4 quilts I basted with Elmer's School Glue. I too want to thank whoever came up with that!! Great idea.

I have had it happen also. If after you wash and dry you still see it you can whip stitch it closed.

To prevent this type of problem, I heavily starch the backing before layering. I use a 1:1 solution of Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch and water, "paint" the solution on using a large wall painting brush, wait a couple of minutes to allow the starch solution to be absorbed, toss in dryer, then iron with steam. This stabilizes the backing fabric enough so it will not fold over itself while machine quilting.

Another thing that helps a lot is spray basting because it "glues" the layers together at all points -- not just every 4 inches where there is a pin, or every couple of inches where there is a thread basting stitch.

I wasgoing to suggest starching too

I've had that happen too, I just leave them.
The last 2 blankets, I starched the backing well (flannel), then clamped it to a table for basting. No wrinkles or puckers.