Can I use fray check?
 

I am piecing the "Watermelon Shuffle" Hoffman quilt pattern with Bali Pops. Of course, the strips are nowhere near straight. In order to make the columns not bow inwards down the middle, I am having to adjust my seams to compensate. This leaves me with some seam allowances that are barely an eighth of an inch in some places. As this quilt is for an 8 yr old granddaughter, I am assuming lots of wear and tear and lots of washing. Therefore, I am wondering if I can put Fray Check on these weak places to help keep the seams from unraveling? Or is there a better solution? TIA. Connie

I would probably do a small zig zag on those spots.

fray check will cause a stiff area- and doesn't it wash out?
i would also zigzag over those areas- or flip the strips- alternating each end i start on when stitching- this helps keep the strips from bowing- i would not make seams so small for a quilt that will be used-

I agree with ckcowl, alternate which end you start at when you sew the strips and that will eliminate the bowing. If it were me, I'd rip and resew it - but that's just me.

Frey Check does not wash out, but it does not like the drier very much (this is what I heard, I may be wrong). It does make the area stiff. I use a drop of it only when I cannot properly tuck in threads at the end of serging, and i can always tell where it is by the stiffness.

just plan to do some quilting design right over those seams. they will need more stability.

I wouldn't use Fray Check. What I would do instead is fuse strips of Misty Fuse over the weak areas. (A nylon tricot fusible, such as the strips sold for joining batting pieces, would probably work fine too.) If you use Misty Fuse, just be careful to make this your last step before layering; otherwise, if you forget and iron after you have added the Misty Fuse, you could end up with fusible on your iron or have your quilt top stuck to your ironing board!

I've also had a package of gimpy Bali Pops and wrote to Hoffman and they compensated me. Was told that since they are hand guided by the folks in Bali, this kinda thing can be expected. My feeling is there should be some form of product control -this isn't the first time I've heard of it happening. I did an 1/8 inch seam and the quilting will hold things, I'm sure.

I would zig zag and also do lots of quilting especially since it will probably be used a lot.