Marsh

Have any of you squared up a quilt top before adding borders? I did the stupidest thing Monday, squared up my blocks, and then decided to give them a really good pressing. STUPID - I don't know what I was thinking. So, instead of squaring again, I sewed all together, and of course the top is really off. Thx for your responses and help. Merry Christmas.

ManiacQuilter2

Yes, I always square up my quilts. That will make your borders, especially miter ones to be much more accurate. Take your time. There is NEVER anything to rush over. Think of it that you are doing major surgery on a patient who happens to be your quilt. If you are off more then a 1/4 of an inch off, try to find out the offending block. I would take out any big offender. NOT a lot of fun but you want when you finish your quilt for the happily ever after result. GOOD LUCK !!!

MacThayer

I square up everything as I go along. I would advise pressing before squaring the blocks, but I probably don't need to tell you that! Sorry! Sometimes I will even block the top before adding borders. Skewed quilts drive me nuts! And having them squared sure makes everything go together much more easily, with corners matching and points lining up. My Great Grandmother actually taught me to do this, and she was a quilter of local great fame.

Tartan

​I always square up as much as possible, before adding borders. You have to be careful not to trim too close to points though.

tropit

Yes, yes yes! Square up those tops! One time I over pressed a top, even after I had squared the top and wouldn'tcha know it... the quilting police called me on it. The top ended up not quite square and the edges were wavy. We had to ease and gather up the edges to square the top up again, before it was machine quilted and it still ended up with a couple of minor puckers and bubbles near the binding edge.

She was right. Sometimes it pays to listen to the law.

~ Cindy

Sandra in Minnesota

Oh, oh. Sometimes I forget to square up my blocks.

mighty

I do square up, but again watch out for points.

quiltinghere

Questions before offering advice:

How much is it off square? You just said 'it's really off'. Measure the top in 3 places in both directions and let us know.

If you trim off fabric, are you cutting of seam allowances? Are the blocks something that NEED seam allowances to make them look nice (i.e. star points)?

Who is the quilt for?

Nan

BellaBoo

I rarely add a border for this very reason. I can trim and square and trim and square and trim until the quilt is gone and never have a perfectly square quilt edge for a border. I took a class that had everyone but borders on a 4", 8" 16" and 36" square piece of fabric. It was very plain many of the class members including myself couldn't get a perfect square to start with. LOL

caroloto

I was taught by teachers whom have many patterns and books to square up after the boarder was added if it needed to be squared. Never trim the blocks as you will lose the points or what is needed for yout 1/4" seam allowance. If your quilt was that far off before adding the boarder then find which blocks were causing the problem and fix them. The first quilt I ever made many years ago under these teachers was a nine patch and a flying greese, points had to meet up or you pulled out the seam ripper and re-sew the block. To make sure your cutting (use the same brand of ruler in the quilt/blocks, never trust or use the mats lines), seam allowance were right 1/4" and you were butting up seams when sewing the blocks. This has paid off I rarely have to square up my boarders or have problems now.

Are your wavy boarder due to the fabric stretching on the ends after being handled? I fine even some of the so called best fabric is awful this is where the walking foot really helps eases and smooths out