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

That's a stunningly beautiful quilt, I love the colours in it. Re your wavy edges, as the others have said it is most likely the bias edges that have given you trouble, naughty things, they should go and stand in the corner :lol: . You just need to sabilise the edges, you could use a boarder, doesn't have to be a wide one, you could use the yellow of your points or pick out some fabric that goes with one of the colours in your quilt, there are lots of options. Cut your boarder strips the length they should be. You will prob have to work this out mathematically. Divide your quilt edge into eigths and mark with a pin, same with boarder strip. Match boader and quilt together at pins. When sewing, place quilt on the underneath, as the action of the feed dogs helps to ease the longer piece onto the shorter one. Hope my long winded explanation makes sense
:?

Beautiful quilt! I think you got the right advice to put a stabilizing border on it and then put the points on.

M

I know absolutely nothing about your problem, but I DO know that that is a beautiful quilt!

Thank you for all your help. I took your advice and here is the finished top. :-)

WOW! that turned out really great!! You did a fine job! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Absolutely brilliant :thumbup: and not a naughty edge to be seen :wink:

You Rock! It looks great!!!

M

Beautiful! Beautiful!

Good job!!

Your "fixed" quilt is absolutely gorgeous. I love the colors, and that border really does make it elegant. Congratulations!

The finished quilt is absolutely stunning...

It's gorgeous! Great job!

It's a wonderful piece of work!!! Are you going to hang it up?

Oh, that turned out simply stunning!!!! I can hear it calling out to me and I'm pretty sure it is saying it wants to come live with me. :lol:

Bias edges can definitely be a challenge to work with. When I know I'm going to be working with bias edges I will really spray starch the fabric before I cut it out and sew it together. Since I started doing that I haven't noticed any real stretching problems with my bias edges. If it is something I'm going to hand quilt I only starch it lightly since it is rather difficult to evenly quilt through a heavily starched top. If I'm machine quilting I don't worry about it and use as much as needed to make sure nothing is going to slip or stretch on me. I hope this helps someone else who may be having bias edge issues.
~Tiffany

In answer to the question "am I going to hang it?" I'm afraid it's going to my 4 year old. It's got a ways to go though because my machine quilting class will be in the next couple of months and then I'll complete it. I've been working on a hand quilted sampler for the better part of a year which, if I finish it before she's in college, will go to my six year old. I just did these quilts to learn how. My real work is going to be art quilting.

The starch idea is good. I didn't know that when I started this or I certainly would have done it. I have starch ready to go for my next piece.

Again, thanks for all the kind and helpful comments.

that is soooooooooo pretty. I wonder what your fabrics look like before they were stacked/whacked

That's one lucky four year old! If you're looking to adopt, I'm pretty sure I'm available! :lol: Actually, I've planned to do a stack-n-whack for awhile and after seeing your beautiful piece I'm just going to have to do it. Once I finish with my current project my girlfriend and I are going to work on a stack-n-whack. She even gave me some gorgeous fabric for it for Christmas so I am out of excuses.
~Tiffany

Beautiful quilt. I love the colors.

I love the quilt - AWESOME! It turned out to be so great!

I know you just love this group - they are so great with the helpful ideas and saving ideas!

I like it! Very creative!!

That is truly stunning!! I just love all the colors, and the prairie points look just perfect! Aren't the folks here just fantastic!! I'm so gonna have to check out this whole stack and whack thing.