Completely blocked on this quilt...
 

Hi all.. Posting for the first time since 2011? I've missed it here! Anyway, I am hoping that some of you might have some advice for me. I bought this fabric a long time ago, and when I started working it I found that the cat panels were out of square as they were printed. I got frustrated, I started to put extra borders to make them a full 12.5" square... But then gave up. I look at it now and I can't stand the way the patterned border looks on the blocks. Do I rip those off and start over? I had another thought about sewing the center panels on top of a larger solid black kona cotton, appliqueing it on. I've never done an applique quilt so I'm hesitant to start here. Is there another graceful way to get the panels up to a true square? I don't even have a complete design for the quilt in my head yet. I've included a pic of the other fabric as well... I'd really love to begin on it!

I would try it out with a border of one of the other fabrics. The black of the panel and the black of your other fabrics don't match, so having them touch doesn't suit my eye. Having a different color in between will disguise that the blacks are not exactly the same.

oh i kind of like it myself. very pretty but if it really bothers you, do change it. good luck.

I would take off the added borders on just one block to see if I could true up the block. Panels like this are often off-square, usually because fabric is stretched and distorted as it is wound onto bolts. They are also often printed off-grain. Usually you can "block" them into an appropriate square shape using spray starch, a pinnable ironing board, and an iron. Sharon Schamber used to have some Youtube videos on how to square up applique blocks, but I can't find them.

Basically, what you do is place an outlined square on your ironing board. I would do this by drawing the square the block should be on the matte side of some freezer paper, then iron the shiny side of the freezer paper to the ironing board. Saturate the block with starch, either a heavy spray starch or a 1:1 solution of Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch and water. You do not want the block dripping wet because of the freezer paper, so give it a few minutes so the fabric fibers have a chance to absorb as much starch as they can, then wipe off any excess with a finger. Position the block on the square outline and start pinning. I would start in the corners, then fill in with pins about 1" apart along all edges (starting with a pin in the middle of an edge, and working evenly out to the corners). Try to smooth out ripples with a finger. At this point I would let it dry completely. When dry, remove pins as necessary so you can steam *press* (not iron back and forth) the block. This should square it enough to proceed with making your quilt.

You will want to use at least a moderate amount of quilting on those blocks to keep them squared. If you were to just outline quilt the blocks, when the quilt is washed, the block fabric might develop ripples again. To keep the blocks squared, be sure to include some quilting inside the blocks as well as around them. The quilting will secure their positioning.

You may not be able to get the blocks perfectly square, but you should be able to get them squared up enough to use in a quilt without drawing attention to squareness.

I like the patterned borders.

Rob

I like the patterned black borders, too; however, depending on your design layout, another color may look better. Fabulous fabrics to choose from. This will be a striking quilt when completed. And, I've been told and have learned that many panels are often misprinted and not squared or stretched. Prism's suggestion may help.

Welcome back!

Instead of using freezer paper on your ironing board, you could use painter's tape to mark off the square size for your blocks. Probably easier to use.

If those patterned borders bother you, could you use a charcoal grey (or purple, any dark color) fabric paint and paint all the white areas? That would make the design subtle, more like a tone on tone. It would then look like a wide dark border. Would you like a wide dark border there?

I would remove the patterned border and use that beautiful blue.

Watch this video. She shows how to square up a panel that is printed crooked.

bkay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zupBTfTNZI8