I recently longarmed a lone-star quilt for a customer. It was pieced in a light fabric and she wanted it puffy so I used a polyester loft batting. She also wanted stitch-in-the-ditch. I ended up crossing over the center point of the star several times in the course of stitching in all the ditches surrounding the center. Now the center of the quilt bulges. I think the problem was caused by a combination of heavy stitching in one area and a really light fabric and batting that were prone to stretch. Now I'm trying to figure out the best way to get it to lie flat.
If you have any expertise or experience with this, please post your suggestions. Here are a few of my ideas--if any of you have tried any of them, please let me know how it went.
- Mist the center and then put the quilt in the dryer on medium heat until dry. Lay the quilt flat on a table while still warm and place a large, flat thing over the center as it cools.
- Hold a steam iron about an inch over the top and steam the center of the quilt Place something flat over the center and leave it there until the quilt is dry.
- Pick out my stitching, mist the center with a light starch or best press, dry in dryer on medium heat, then requilt (making sure to not cross the center point more than absolutely necessary).
- Pick out my stitching and figure out how to take tucks in the center area, then requilt.