I have been working on a kaleidoscope quilt and I decided to put prairie points on the edges in between the main body of the quilt and the borders. Well I spent all day yesterday making them and about 2 hours sewing them on and when I laid the quilt out it was all wavy. :cry:

Now I think the only thing to be done for it is get out the stitch ripper and take them all out and start over. I had pinned and attached them to the body of the quilt and now I think I should have basted them all in a row and then sewn them on. Only how do I get the corners to match up if I do that?

I swear, I was dreaming about it last night!

I have not used prairie points extensively, but on pillows, I sewed them onto a bias strip that was buried in the outside seam. It makes sense that that method would work on a larger piece, where you might need to adjust spacing a scootch to even out corners.

I did prairie points on a small lap quilt. I laid them all out to get the spacing right, then pinned them into a chain. Then I sewed them together so they would line up straight. THEN I basted them to the quilt top, going through to the backing.

It ends up being a lot of work for what seems like such a simple and pretty finish to the quilt, doesn't it?

I wonder if you loosened stitches in puckered area, maybe you couls sneak points in without ripping it all out? It really ia a beautiiful quilt.

I've never done prairie points...but I love your quilt. I empathize with your frustration at a beautiful job gone awry. I hope it can be fixed with some of the other suggestions. It is a nice touch to the edge of the quilt.

Your quilt looks GREAT.. I keep looking at Prarie Points and thinking I want to try them.. after reading your post.... well I will keep thinkg but not actually doing them any time soon!

I know that "oh ,horrors" feeling!! I had to ripped out a border that had
done the same thing to me.I was so glad afterwards that I did..but oh that ripping out . I did a running stitch on the edge of the quilt for it had stretched from putting the border on wrong.

If the edge of the quilt top is wavy, I bet it's because of that stack and whack pattern. The edges of your quilt are all on the bias, so it stretches very easily. I would add a border before the prairie points, to square up and stabilize the quilt. Measure your horizontal and vertical lengths across the middle of the quilt rather than on the edges, and then cut your border and pin them together, easing the edge of the quilt top to fit the border. Then you can add your prairie points. Generally, you start at the corners and work inward so the corners match up nicely.

Hope that helps!

Thank you for all your advice. I've got the thing on the floor and I'm deciding on my next move. I forgot that the edges were all on the bias. And no doubt the stretch is worse now for all the stitch ripping. I think I'll add a couple of inches of border and then the points. Oh no! I wonder if I got enough fabric. This is turning into quite the project. Meanwhile I had fun practicing machine applique last night, at least!

Sometimes when edges are on the bias, I run a row of stabilizing row with my surger around the edges to help it keep from continuing to stretch. I use lots of Prarie points on baby quilts and have never had that problem. But I'm betting it is the stretch bias edge. The blocks are beautiful! I love the colors. Sara