hard lesson learned :(
 

the puckers on the back of this quilt are TERRIBLE.

i sandwiched it in less than ideal circumstances and because i had other projects on the go and it was the middle of winter i used the pins i had instead of going to buy more and out of sloth didn't baste it properly with thread.

the consequences are obvious.

good thing this quilt looks okay from the top and the person receiving it as a gift won't mind.

also, it will be at someone else's house so i won't have to live with it....

so here's today's quilting handslap: sandwich properly or suffer the puckers.

aileen

Thanks for sparing us your hardship by sharing yours!

Haste sometimes makes waste - - -

When I sandwich my quilt I tape the backing to the floor, then spray bast it to the batting. I than put on the top, smooth out, lift and spray..no puckers. I use 505 spray only

"or suffer the puckers", great phrase ;-)

I'm so sorry about your puckers. I feel for you... Just shake it off... the deed is done and unless you want to unquilt it... yeah, I think the puckers are suddenly adding personality :D

I had puckers in the back of a quilt that was filled with high loft polyester batting. Thankfully, the puckers kind of disappeared into all that puff, but I still wonder if they will tear apart and break the quilting thread.

unquilting is against the house rules!

I have "suffered the puckers" too! Love your phrase.

TOTALLY illegal and FORBIDDEN!!!

I agree... adds personality and as my husbands like to tell me.... if the person even notices the puckers.... they know it is REALLY hand made!!!

We've all had a pucker or two in our quilting career. Shake it off and move on. Some people call them kisses instead of puckers.:D ​Makes them sound better doesn't it?

then this quilt is a heavy make out session.....

Have you ever noticed... on some clothing there's a tag that states any irregularities are "part of the character of the fabric"?

There ya go.
Don't sweat the puckers... :D

Puckers come from the backing not beinf smoothed out. I use my glass topped dining table and use clamps from Home Depot to hold the sandwich together. Smoothing every time I have to move it to a new section of the quilt. I can still get a small pucker or two if I unpin a too large of an area when quilting.
I leave the puckers, wash and dry it and they don't show as much. I always use high loft poly batting, never had a quilt coming apart yet. I have made over 110 quilts.
All that being said I would leave it and move on.

Did you wash it ? Sometimes the puckers are not as noticeable after washing and drying. I have also used a large quilt label over really bad puckers too. I agree it is still a wonderful handmade item and willbe appreciated for that fact don't be so hard one yourself :)

Have you ever thought about using a frame, such as the Flynn frame?Roll the quilt top,batting and backing on the frame, use water soluable thread, baste with a large stippling pattern, take it off the frame and then quilt it as you would like. The quilt is firmly basted and when you wash the quilt all the basting stitches all come out. Just a thought.

I feel your pain. I had a pucker so bad on the back of a quilt I had to cut it, cut out the excess fabric, and cover it with a strip of fabric the length of the quilt to make it look like intentional piecing. Turned out okay, but it's not something I'll ever forget.

I really like your saying it will be at someone else's house! That way you do not have to look at it and they will not see what your critical eye sees.

I've never spray basted my batting to the backing...a step that was never emphasized as important in any class I've taken. I've been fortunate, though, to have never had any issues with my quilting results, but I'm thinking that my luck may not continue to hold out...soooo, I'm going to start making it part of my sandwiching process. It just makes sense, and the potential boo-boos just aren't worth it.

Would this method work well with using that cuddle fabric for a backing? Bit nervous to use it but I bought it and all I can think of is that it will be hard for it not to pucker!

I am makeing one of those now. It's in the process. Looks beautiful from the top, so far. Well, My Son thinks is the prettiest one I've ever made (so far). He knows its made with Love!

Someone once told me that the puckers are good - they provide extra warmth, like air pockets. No, it's true. Honest.

ah heck just puckers are just a sign of love : )

I also used to have lots of issues with puckers/tucks when I FMQ'd my quilts. At that point, I was just pinning my sandwich together. Then I bravely bought an expensive can of spray and things will never be the same. I LOVE the adhesive spray. I spend a bit more time, smoothing the top and bottom but once I'm finished with that...FMQ'ing is a breeze. I move it all around, fold it up, put it aside for other projects...and the fabric don't move and wrinkle. Best product ever!! Now I just panic if I'm down to my last can!

I abandoned the polyester batting because I couldn't get the basting spray to work with it. Then, someone on the board gave us the link to Sharon Schaumberg's (sp???) "Basting With Boards" videos on You Tube and I've never looked back! I don't make many large quilts but this method has made the sandwiching process SO much easier and I can now use any kind of batting with the assurance that the back will NOT pucker. I only use the spray now on very small pieces. The "Boards" is a great technique and certainly worth a try. Just "google" "Basting with Boards" and scroll to the video showing the two bright pink pieces of fabric in the thumbnail.

I spray baste also and love it. Introduced it to my quilting friendship group and we all spray now. We love that there are NO puckers. We use my king bed to layer on and it saves the back. We have better success using a slightly different method. Batting down first, arrange backing, fold backing back spray and smooth down. Fold other side back, spray and smooth. Flip it over, arrange on the top and repeat the process. I have personally made 160 quilts and assisted my friends with countless others.

Sorry to say, I have done it more than once, them I decide to tack and not quilt, it is very forgiving.
Not as happy but it works and washes very well.

the man who is to receive this quilt is my....boyfriend. yes. there i said it.

and he loves it. even when i pointed out the glaring creases (they are too big to be called puckers at this point) he really didn't "see" what i meant.

he kissed me and told me to get 'er done.

that's motivation!

aileen

also, i think the flannel i used, which was from my bin' might actually be stretching as i quilt it.

i've never had more than a little pucker or two, and i know what i did wrong.

i won't do it again but i might try both the fusible batting and the spray at some point in the near future :)

thanks for your suggestions! love this place <3

aileen

Tucks and puckers can happen to the best quilters, so frustrating! It doesn't matter if it is done on a quilting frame or pinned/basted with thread. I was just at the Machine Quilters Exposition (MQX) in Portland, Oregon last week and saw a quilt that had been quilted by a very well known quilter/teacher/author and was astounded to see a small tuck in the backing. I know that the owner of the quilt had to have paid a pretty penny to have this person quilt for them and the quilt/quilting was lovely...but a tuck?? Just goes to show that ANYONE can get a tuck in a quilt backing. If it really bugs you, you can hand sew them down with little needle-turn applique stitches and if the backing is nice and busy, it will be hidden. Or you can applique blocks over the offending areas...or a large label. Appliqueing things to the back of a quilt is also a way to hide stitching when the tension goes off in areas - had to do that with a quilt one time because I didn't want to frog that much quilting...ended up looking totally awesome!

Puckers aren't that bad, especially little ones. I spent an hour this evening fighting with translucent thread jumbles on the back of what I was quilting. I had to rip it out 3 times before I could get it to act right so I could finish that part. I was cursing my seam ripper and really thinking of throwing it before it was over. Just remember, it could always be worse!