Help with tying!
 

Good Morning! I need some help as soon as possible. I finished sewing the blocks, I got out my handy dandy quilt tying table and pinned the whole thing down, and it is all buckled on the underside. I have done this a million times, but I have never had so much problem with this backing. I pride myself on a smooth tied backing and I have gone over this several times and cannot get it to lie straight. It is a gift for my neighbor and the whole sampler has been designed around her as a neighbor, friend, trips she and her husband have taken, a Minnesota block and I want it to be as perfect as possible. The only thing I can come up with is pin the center block (15 blocks, 3 across/five down) and tie it, and then lay it on the table and work diagonally around the center block and end up doing the last four corner blocks. But I wouldn't pin them down. I would pull the fabric on the hoop to smooth the block, batting and backing out and then tie it down. Does this make sense???? I hope so, because I am so close to being done that I can taste it, but I just can't keep the backing flat. HELP!!!!!

Thanks in advance. It is going to rain today. My outside work is done, almost, and it is going to be a perfect day to tie this little puppy down. Any help you can give me as soon as possible would be ever so appreciated.

Thanks all of you. Edie

try to figure out first why it is 'skewed'...maybe you need to lay out the backing fabric & square it up- it may be wonky and squaring it up will make it lay straight when you load it up. if you leave it wonky you are going to 'battle' it through the whole process regardless of where you start-what direction you go it. so, i'd recommend identifying the reason for the problem before continuing.

I agree with ckcowl, it sounds like your backing is wonky. Unless you get it straight, it will cause problems every time. Also, I find I need to tape the back to the tabletop to hold it straight while I pin the layers together.

Can you spray baste or otherwise baste it first, then tie?

It sounds like you need to wash and press the fabric or buy new. If it is askew now, wait until it is washed after it is finished and gifted, it will be a true mess then. I am just saying...

Is the top laying flat?

If the backing is wonky now - it will still be wonky after it's tied. Do you want it to leave your house that way?

As ckcowl said - figure out WHY it's behaving like it is - if it can't be tamed - discard it.

If the fabric is off grain you can straighten it like we used to in our HS home ec class by pulling the fabric diagonally until it squared up, then steaming it to set the grain.