Originally Posted by
Helen S
The fabric DOES stretch as you quilt, so you have to keep pulling it tight, without actually stretching it, of course, as you go. I assume this is the reason for cutting your backing and batting larger than the quilt top. After I quilt about the first 1/4 of the quilt, in the center first, I then lay it flat and make sure the remaining areas are still smooth before moving on.
I think the "looseness of the fabric" is because it's not quilted, not attached to the batting or backing fabric. Have you washed it since finishing it? I find that seems to tighten the fabric back up, too.
A walking foot makes all the difference in how the layers feed through the machine.
Maybe that was my problem. When I started quilting it, I didn't start in the center. No one has ever told me I should start in the center. The one I made it class, I wasn't even told to start in the center.
When I was talking about the looseness of the fabric, It was quilted. I guess I don't know how to explain it...but there is a huge difference between the two quilts I made (by SID) verses the quilt my quilting friend (who long arms as her business) did on my queen size quilt. It seems to change the entire feel and look of the quilt as well. Does this make sense?