CarolynMT

Ok, Lately I have been doing something when I load my quilts that is different.....cant figure it out. I float my tops (tried putting one on the rollers and it got all wonky) Anyhow, I baste the quilt down on the sides each time I advance. But lately when I get to the bottom, it is all wavey, like 2-3inches worth of waves.

I know the top is squared, somehow in the process of basting it, I am either stretching it too much or letting it get "taken in" too much. I just cant figure this out, so I can stop doing it......any ideas?

ScubaK

I don't have a clue unless you are somehow stretching it along the way.
I'd be interested in hearing what others have to say.
Have you posted on one of the Yahoo groups?
K

Prism99

After you baste the quilt down, measure across the width of the quilt at that basting line. Before basting down the sides each time, measure across the middle and at the point nearest you to make sure that it is still that size.

My guess is that you are not tensioning the sides so that, when you baste the sides down, the quilt is not stretched as much side-to-side as when you basted the top down. It probably gets a little worse each time you roll. The backing is on rollers so this is not happening to the backing.

The problem is not that you are stretching the top too much; it is that you are not stretching the top enough. Tensioning the sides while you baste would help. Measuring before you baste ensures that you are not "scooching" the top into a smaller width with each roll.

CarolynMT

Ahh Ok, I havent been putting the side clamps on until I get the sides tacked down to the backing.....perhaps that is the issue....sigh I will try with the side tension on before basting this time, see if it helps. And will check widths when I roll.

Thanks!!! Will update on how that works when i finish the one on the frame now

Bobbielinks

I have been longarming for 13 years and was never able to float my tops without them drawing in too much, leaving the bottom border with waves. I find I have much better results when I attach the top of the batting to thetop of the backing with a basting stitch while the horizonal channel lock is on. Pin the quilt top along that basting line and pin the bottom of the quilt op to the bottom roller. Measure the width and baste each side with each advancement. This works for me.

JustAbitCrazy

I agree with what you have already been told. I also love using the tape measure suspended overtop the quilt near the belly bar. I forget what it's called, but it has a zero in the center and measurements out in both directions, left and right. It makes it easy to keep the sides of the quilt straight. You'd be surprised how often you have to smooth the quilt top out to both sides from the center along the belly bar in order to keep the sides at the correct measurement. I also use my vertical channel locks when basting down the sides with each advancement, and my quilt top is secured at the top just the way Bobbielinks does hers. I also attach the bottom of the quilt top to the roller for it with Leadergrips. I have had customers remark that they have never had so little to trim off when squaring up the quilt prior to binding, which pleases me, because I work very hard towards keeping the quilt squared.

Prism99

An alternative to side tensioning would be pinning the top to the batting/backing before basting the sides. You would still want to measure.

cindi

It's called a Longarm Centering Tape by Colonial. You can get them online, and they're not terribly expensive. I picked mine up at my LQS. Wouldn't be without it. Rarely have to trim my sides when I use it, it's so accurate! You can see it on my quilt below:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]434553[/ATTACH]

dunster

I think Prism is correct. When I quilted my last quilt, I decided to completely float the top. (Usually I attach the bottom of the top to the roller.) Each time I advanced the quilt, I carefully stitched straight down each side, from the previous side stitching, thinking that I was keeping the quilt nice and square. But when I got near the bottom I realized the quilt was getting smaller from side to side... I suddenly realized what was happening and had to do some work with the seam ripper (sometimes called skinning the quilt) to correct the problem. What was happening was that the quilting on the first pass made the quilt draw in, and I was starting the second pass with the edges aligned to that line, which resulted in the quilt getting a little narrower with each pass. I don't think I'll make that mistake again. The trick really is to measure with each advance, but I'm not convinced that even that is enough, because you still have to somehow make a straight line from the area that has been quilted and drawn up and the area that has not been quilted. I'm pretty sure the right solution is to stabilize the entire top (and not just by stitching around the edges) before starting any dense quilting. That's probably not as necessary with less dense quilting, or smaller quilts.

krafty14

I too float my quilt when quilting. I baste along the top, then before basting the sides I smooth the quilt down to the bottom (out of quilting range) and pin. I place several pins across the bottom to hold the quilt in place. Then I baste the sides, add side tension, and quilt a row. When I move it up for the next row, I pin the bottom of the quilt again, out of range of the quilting, baste the sides, remove the old pins, add tension, and quilt away. They usually come out pretty square! Ann