Problems with Stabilizer
 

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Does anyone have any suggestions to get the wrinkles out besides trying to pull everything apart & start from scratch?

The center is 32x45". It is a used cotton fabric on top that is nearly thread-bare so I fused it together with a heavy cotton muslin. Everything was pre-washed & honestly it looked fine when I just finished pressing the layers together. When I started sewing the borders on there was a little bit of wrinkling, but I figured I could work with it. As the night has progressed, the wrinkling has become more & more pronounced & honestly I cannot figure out why. I tried re-pressing the fabric & that didn't work. I tried to see if I could block it, but that didn't work either. I don't see any bubbles in either fabric so I cannot figure out for the life of me why this is happening. I've never used stabilizer for anything except small applique (under 12") so perhaps there is some kind of tip/trick that I needed to employ when working with a larger area.

It doesn't seem like this is something I can just quilt out. Ideas? please.

If you used a fusible (used for appliques- like heat & bond lite) you can get your project wet (most of the sewable fusibles wash away) if you used a stabilizer (interfacing-different product ) it may not wash away, you might be able to pull it apart) stabilizers/Interfacing's sometimes shrink if the iron is too hot. We need to know what you used to help much.

I used Pellon's 805 Wonder-Under Transfer Web.

Would I soak it as a quilt top? If so, would I then need to start from scratch & re-apply the Wonder Under or could I move right to pin basting & then quilting it?

Wonder under fusible web should release with water, I don't know if (soaking) would be necessary, you might be able to just spritz with a spray bottle & get it to release enough to pull the layers apart. Then try smoothing everything, baste & quilt. You could try either small dabs often glue, I use glue stick from the dollar store, but some people have luck with regular Elmer's glue. Just don't use a lot. Good luck :-)

How did you add the border? Did you measure the focus fabric in the center, then cut your borders to that length, or did you use a long strip of border, sew it on then cut the excess. If you did not cut to size first, you may have stretched your focus fabric.

Since the center was flat when you started, and supposedly square(?), then I agree that the problem is probably with the borders, especially since you started to see wrinkling when you sewed them on. Rather than taking off the stabilizer, I would take off the borders and see if the center is then flat. If not, the problem is with the stabilizer, but if it is, then you need to square up the center and apply new borders, cutting to size first.

Rather than fusing the fabric to muslin, I suggest you use a woven fusible like the Pellon SF-101. It is lightweight, and very stable.

ok, thanks. I took off the borders & it's more wrinkly than ever so I assume it must be an issue with the fusible web. I've been having lots of issues with it anyways since it comes in 18" width & the fabric is nearly twice that, and on top of that there the butterfly fabric has thread pulls & holes in it (which is why I backed it in the first place). There were some minor issues with it when I started sewing the borders, but I thought they were manageable. Not only did they get worse after I sewed on the borders, but they continued to worsen as the night went on. Now having removed the borders, the wrinkles are even worse. :(

Guess I'm off to wet it down & see what happens with that. Hopefully I will not have to go & buy yet another product to finish this nightmare quilt, but I will keep the SF-101 in mind if I do. Thank you all for the ideas!

PS -- I found some information on a few different sites about pre-shrinking the interfacing by setting it gently on top of the fabric & then steaming it until it seizes up a bit before pressing it onto the fabric. I never realized that was important, but I guess I've always done that with my applique work simply because it allowed me to heat it up a bit & place it in the perfect spot before pressing it down. I can't imagine how I'd do that with such a large section, but maybe instead of putting the interfacing on in strips, I need to cut it into squares & attach it in small 12"x12" sections. idk. so frustrating!!!

ok, so I've pulled the 2 layers apart. It seems like a big part of the issue may have been that the center didn't seem to be nearly as well bonded as the edges so I'll have to pay attention to that next time. Wondering though, is all the interfacing now dissolved to where I should just press on a new batch of Wonder-Under or do I need to wash it or something first? (I soaked it for about 30 minutes in cool water)