Originally Posted by
Maureen NJ
I have a question. I hand baste using Sharon Schamber's method. When I piece the back pieces together, whether it is 2 or 3 pieces, it never seems to lie flat when I press it. Why is that? What can I do to make it better? Also, when you lay the front to the back, I always seem to have problems lining it up so the seam will be the same amount in from the edges and look ok when I put on the binding. Any suggestions? Thanks for your input.
Maureen,
Regarding flatness after seaming, are you cutting off the selvedges before sewing the seam? Selvedges will prevent a seam from lying flat.
If you are already cutting off selvedges, my best guess is that you are stretching the edges of the fabric as you sew. This is particularly noticeable on long seams because the slight stretching every few inches starts adding up. Some precautions you can take are (1) heavily starch the yardage before sewing together for backing; starch stabilizes fabric so it is less likely to stretch with handling, (2) use a .5" seam so you are not sewing as close to the cut edges; the cut edges are the least stable area of the fabric, (3) use a walking foot; a common problem without a walking foot is that the feed dogs tend to feed the bottom fabric faster than the top fabric, (4) pin the entire seam before starting to sew and hold the fabric up above the presser foot as you feed it to the machine; this will tend to equalize feeding of the top and bottom fabrics.
For the basting step, are you marking the centers of your top, bottom, and backing before you start? I would also measure the backing from the center mark out to the side seams, then measure the same distance from the center top of the batting and quilt top. Match these points and thread baste them together before loading onto the boards.
For additional safety, you might want to mark the batting all the way from top to bottom with a line that simulates where the backing seams should fall. A long metal T-square from the hardware store and a Sharpie permanent pen would help with this. You want to use permanent marker so the markings won't move into the fabric later. If you are nervous about using a permanent pen, try a blue quilt marking pen. Before layering, you could also mark the backing seam lines on the quilt top using blue painter's tape. Measure and mark from the center. As you baste onto the boards, with each roll you can adjust so that all the lines -- backing seam lines, batting marker lines, and blue painter's tape -- match up and the layers are lying flat.