Carol W

No. I only pin baste because I've had issues with the spray basting. I have two large tables that I push together. I lay my backing down and clamp it. Then I lay my batting down and clamp to the back. Then the top is clamped to all. I start in the center and work my way out pin basting every hand width.

I may just rip out everything. :(

Bill'sBonBon

I know you are unhappy with spray basting,A good one will not gum up your machine. BUUUT if you use craft spray glue it will,and there is a difference. HOW DO I KNOW,DONE THAT. OMG WHAT A MESS THOUGHT I HAD RUINED MY MACHINE. It is not the same as quilt basting spray. Also in my own experience, if you don't have the backing taut enough it will pucker,DONE THAT. If you just use the basting spray on a large quilt and it is not 100 percent cotton it will comes loose quickly. That includes the batting. Like the real fluffy kind I like to use for the soft look on the kids quilt.The basting Glue just doesn't hold the poly kind very well. So when I spray a large quilt all at once I also do some basting. But as a rule I only spray glue on a small quilt. The crayon quilts,because I was in such a hurry has a couple little pleats on front and back. On the front it is close to the mider points on the back it is somewhere in the middle. Unless you point it out because the material is dark you cant see it. I only spray basted and some of the material on the back is not 100 percent cotton. To me even though it is a YUK job to some I believe stretching back pretty tight on floor pinning if you have carpet,taping with masking tape if you have wood or tile floors,then spreading batting smooth it out,then put you top on and smooth it out but don't stretch it. Then pin baste. I have learned to baste on a table top thanks to my quilting quild. I probably didn't help you but just couldn't help myself because you are doing like I use to do. It just makes you so mad when you turn your quilt over and see that pleat,pucker. I truly hope you find a way to fix it. Sisters don't mind mistakes. It is the fact that you took the time and love to fix it for her. That is what counts.
Bill'sBonBon

Carol W

Thank you so much for that.

You are so kind to say those nice things.

Prism99

This may not help you now, but I have found that the following prep eliminates any puckering for me.

I starch the backing fabric. Spray starch seems to get away from me, so what I do now is lay out my fabric on the kitchen island and "paint" it with a diluted starch solution I make myself. I use the blue bottle of starch you can buy in laundry aisles, diluted either 1:1 or 1:2 with water, using an actual large paintbrush! I give the fabric a half-hour or so to absorb the starch well, then throw it in the dryer. When I iron the fabric, it becomes quite stiff. This stiffness means the fabric won't have a chance to bunch up when I am machine quilting the sandwich.

The other thing that really helps is spray basting the sandwich together, rather than pinning or hand basting. The spray baste makes a very firm sandwich and holds all the layers tightly together, so the fabric you can't see doesn't really have a chance to pucker.

If I could do only one of the above to prevent puckering, it would be to spray baste the quilt sandwich.

For repairing your current quilt without taking it apart, I would probably try to starch the backing fabric after taking out the stitching. You could use several layers of spray starch to do this. Just be sure after spraying to give the starch a few minutes to sink into the fabric before ironing; otherwise the starch can stick to your iron and/or flake off the fabric. Be careful too, not to have the iron so hot it scorches the starch. Scorched starch will wash out, but it's not a good feeling to see it! I would probably use a steam iron held an inch above the fabric first, to help the starch sink in and also to see if the backing fabric will shrink a little to get rid of the excess in the pucker. I'd finish with regular ironing.

Mary

Carol W

Thanks!!!

Would it be to much to stabilize and spray starch the fabric.

I don't really want to take it apart, but I also can't leave it as it is.

Prism99

Sorry, I wasn't completely clear.

My directions for spray starching were for not taking the entire quilt sandwich apart. If the puckering isn't too extensive, I would probably take out the stitching in one area and try the spray starch approach in that area to see if I could then re-stitch it without puckering. It seems to me it might be possible to take some of the excess fabric out with steaming, and then the starch would help keep the backing from re-puckering when you repair that area.

Incidentally, I didn't realize there was a second page to this thread until after I posted. I prefer cotton battings, so didn't realize spray basting doesn't work as well with poly battings. The spray I use is from JoAnn Fabrics and made especially for quilt basting. This has never gummed up my sewing machine needle.

Mary

Prism99

<Would it be to much to stabilize and spray starch the fabric. >

If you are taking the quilt sandwich apart, you could certainly spray starch the backing fabric. It would take several layers to get it stiff enough, though, and you have to be careful to let the spray starch absorb each time before ironing. It's much faster and a lot less work to use the "painting" method I described. The fabric doesn't need to be completely dry before taking it out of the dryer to iron; just dry enough so your iron doesn't get gummed up with lots of starch.

Basically, you want the backing fabric to be very stiff before layering the sandwich. In my experience, one or two layers of spray starch won't be enough; I would guess it would take four layers or so.

If taking the quilt sandwich apart, I would also starch the top. For that, I would definitely use spray starch. Even just one layer would help. The top doesn't have to be as stiff as the backing fabric because you can see puckers coming. I would probably spray starch once from the back, and then give the top an extra spray starch from the top.

Mary

quiltngal

My quilting teacher (who also judges at our county fair) always has me take straight pins and pin all the way when I stitch in the ditch as it keeps it from puckering. I have found that it really helps me from getting those puckers on the back of the quilt. Good luck in fixing your quilt. It is very nice.
Judy

GailG

It seems that this pucker is a matter of not enough pinning or basting, as was indicated by other posters. I have just been through the same thing. When I ripped the one seam that had the pucker, laid the quilt flat and repositioned the pins (very close together), and restitched letting the walking foot do it's thing, it worked out. The next quilt, I needle-and-thread basted close together and got no puckers.

Suz

The pink fabric is very pretty and complements the quilt top.

Perhaps next time you could use a printed fabric which would be more forgiving and the puckers would not be so obvious.

Just a thought. Suz