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Help - Why are the edges of my quilt wavy?
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When I finish a quilt, I notice that I can never get it to lay flat; the edges are always wavy. I also finished a table runner for a Christmas gift and the edges of that were also wavy. I have been attaching the binding by machine lately, could that be the cause? I'm attaching a pic of my last quilt so you can see what I'm talking about.
Thanks in advance for any help/ideas. |
I don't think they look that noticeable but maybe "steam Press" the edges. Love your quilt and the diagonal on it..
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I am sure that I have this problem too ..... I guess it just doesn't bother me :) Your quilt looks great
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Are you just sewing a strip of fabric on for the borders and cutting off anything left over? Fabric creeps, particularly the bottom fabric because of the feed dogs. Cut borders to fit, and hold on to your fabric layers as you sew so it doesn't creep. It can also make a difference if you cut your borders lengthwise rather than cross grain, cross grain (selvedge to selvedge) has more give which isn't always your friend.
I don't normally pin anything, but I do pin the borders. Pin the center to the center of the top, pin the quarters to the quarter marks, pin the ends together and then where you may need to ease, work from there. Then when you put your binding on, hold the layers as you sew. |
That isn't very wavy. I am wondering if you are stretching your binding while applying it. That could be causing this little tiny bit of wave. Here is a good blog posting about possible causes of wavy borders.
http://www.apqs.com/blog/2013/06/11/...-wavy-borders/ Large waves are caused by not measuring the border fabric before attaching but simply taking a large strip of fabric sewing it on and cutting. |
spray it with water and pin to your ironing board to dry. "blocking" it should help.
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It can be either a little too much fabric in the border or too much fabric in the binding. I like to attach my binding with my walking foot so all the layers move at the same rate. I use a slightly larger stitch length because I am sewing through thicker layers. I like to hand stitch the binding to the back or use a stitch that grabs the binding but doesn't add another row of solid stitching to the quilt or runner edge like a hem stitch or similar.
Your quilt is pretty and that little bit of wave will not be noticeable unless it is laying out flat like on your floor. I find when doing quilting designs on runner, that a linear design on the borders works best. A design with lots of curves and curls seems to stretch the fabric on the bias causing some ripples on the edge. |
your quilt is very nice. Try this--lay your two border pieces across the center of the quilt and use pins to mark the length. Then move each border piece to the edge and fit it on using those pins as a measure working in any discrepancy. The quilt often is a bit longer on the edges than it is in the middle of the quilt. You can measure across in the center of the quilt but I'd rather not use math. Doesn't matter what it measures--just so the border pieces measure the same as the center area of the quilt. Do it for both the length and width of the quilt to get your 4 pieces on the edges. I think you will be pleased with the results.
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Thank You so much, I appreciate your responses!!! Definitely going to make notes and try them!
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Mine usually do that too! Even on quilts without borders. If you find an answer, let me know!!!
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