Thread: Tips for ironing/pressing large quilt tops and backings please

My best tip for the quilt top is to press, press, press!​ as you sew the blocks and rows together. It's well worth taking the time to press every single seam flat while I'm sewing it. When I'm done sewing my quilt top it's ready for quilting and no further pressing is necessary. As far as the backing, just press section-by-section, back and forth, and advancing. It's about all you can do if you don't have a huge area to lay out a backing to press it. Your fabric shouldn't wrinkle up as you advance if you press it well, use starch and immediately lay it out when you're finished. I have the Press Express board my DH made for me, and it really makes pressing easier because I can press a larger area. It's one of my favorite things in my sewing room! Good luck!
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Originally Posted by maryfrang

Get a big ironing board.

You have a big ironing board. I use my bed. I lay the ironing board, folded up, onto the foot end of the bed and the bed is what holds the bulk of the quilt. If you have spray-starched with diluted Stay Flo as you made each block, it won't wrinkle as much. If your back doesn't like this, you could put a small stool with a pillow on the floor and kneel on that. Sometimes my back complains if I bend over for a long time.

I have six ironing boards. I set up as many as I need wide ends together for pressing backing and quilt tops. Ironing boards are cheap and easy to store. They hang in my utility closet out of sight.

I was so glad to read this thread because this is exactly what I'm dealing with right now! Making a 96" x 96" quilt for my son and his fiance, and faced with ironing that 108" wide fabric, I've been procrastinating all week. Last night I finally decided that the quilting fairy isn't going to come do it for me, so I kinda sorta figured it out.

I set up my ironing boards (I'm a piker, Onebyone; I only have two! ) a couple feet apart, folded my fabric in half selvage to selvage so I wasn't working with the entire width of it flopping around. I'm ironing it double-thickness, staying away from the fold so I don't put a crease in it. When I'm done with one side, I'll flip it over and do the other one.

As I iron on one board, I drape the pressed fabric over the other board (a couple feet in front of it) so it's not laying on the floor getting wrinkled again. And the dog isn't walking on it.

When I've done that, I'm going to re-fold it end to end and iron it again the same way, so the part with the fold gets ironed and the whole thing gets a double dose of starch. I know it sounds like I'm doing twice as much work and that it will take longer, but I think it will be less stressful for me than wrestling with a full width of fabric. Right now, most of this is theoretical, as I only got part of it done last night before my back gave out and I had to call it quits for the night.

I'll let you know how it works out.

Here is a trick that us frame quilters use. Not sure where you could do this BUT this is for the backing only. I drape it over my frame and spray the heck out of it with a spray bottle of water. Let it dry. Voila----all the wrinkles are gone.