Question about squaring up a quilt
 

What is the easiest way to square a quilt before putting the binding on? I would love to hear how each of you square your quilts

Gellybean402 :)

I use the inner part of the border as my guide and then decide how wide the border can be, usually about 1/4" smaller than it is. Then I put my ruler on the inner part of the border and trim all the borders at the same width.

well it usually isn't necessary but I have taken my largest ruler (20 1/2") and placed it in the corner. matching lines of ruler on some seams and seeing if anything needs to be trimmed. I'm talking maybe 1/8 inch to be cut off. I do that for all corners.
now if you mean wetting the whole quilt and "squaring" it up that way, I've only done that once. out in the backyard with a yard stick and long tape. too much trouble for me.

Squaring up???? LOL!! In reality I use a large square ruler in the corners and eyeball the rest. Really not techie but works for me. Somehow my quilts always come out within a quarter of an inch each way. Just luck. :)

Edited to say that I square as I go so by the time I reach the end I'm usually doing good. And my Long armer is wonderful at keeping the square going.

I square up my quilts by putting borders on. I measure through the middle of the top, then at 1/4 and 3/4 spacing across the top. I get an average of those measurements and cut my borders. Then I fold the quilt and border into quarters and pin the borders on. I ease the fabric of the top as I'm pinning. Usually the top and borders go together easily, but I have been known to resew a few of the seams right at the ends where the threads have either pulled out or to take in a couple threads. Once the top and bottom borders are on, I do the sides in the same way.

I repeat this for each border I put on.

Square as you go. Always. Then measure from the inner border. I wish I had room to lay a quilt out flat on the floor.

If it is just pulled out of square during the quilting, I use and 16-1/2 sw ruler to square a corners and then measure from a consistent line in side the quilt and trim up the sides, usually this when cutting away the extra batting and lining.

I am guessing you are talking about trimming it after quilting. I use the same technique as Blackberry

Yep.:)
Except I can't "do" floors and am blessed to have a large table and large mat to use. :)

Jan in VA

It is definitely easier to keep things lined up as one goes.

I have no idea how to square up something that got way off course while it was being made.

This is the way I was taught in my first quilt class and it works great for me too.

I square as I go as well. RARELY do I have problems after that. When adding borders, measure your quilt at the mid points both vertically as well as horizontally. Cut BOTH either side/top and bottom at the same time with the measurement of your mid points. Ease in as necessary. At that point, your quilt SHOULD be square and you should not have to re-square before adding your binding.

I have never found it necessary to square up my entire quilt. I measure the quilt top in the center and 1/4 in from each side. I take the average of those measurements and that is what I use for my border. I sew the side borders on first and then the top and bottom borders on next. This also works if you want to miter your corners of your border. Just take the measurement and make that what you sew to the quilt leaving extra on the ends for the miter. Lay the quilt on a flat surface to work out your miter. When I'm pinning the border on I divide the quilt into fourths and the border into fourths and match it up. Sometimes I have to do a bit of easing in with pins. I've never had a quilt that didn't lay straight and flat when I was done quilting and binding it using this method.

I use my husband's large metal T square and start in with the upper right corner to make sure that is square both ways. Usually I only have to do a very slight trim or none at all because I do square up my blocks as I go. Then I switch to my 6x36" ruler and using the outer edge of my 2nd to last border I line up my ruler to trim the outside border a slight bit, sometimes up to 1/4" to get rid of variations in the outside edge usually due to the machine quilting pulling a little at the edges. Now I just keep his T square in my sewing lab and he knows where to find it if he needs it.

there are several videos on you tube on how to square up a quilt. check them out, they are very helpful

I square everything up as I go and when quilted and ready for binding it is usually pretty square, if not I just trim where it needs it.

Squaring up is terrifies me. I'm always thinking -- what if I jerk a little and mess it up? I hate cutting into something I spent so many months working on. I solved the problem by having the long arm quilter do the squaring up. Saved me a lot of anxiety. Not a solution for those who quilt their own, I know.

Count me in as one of those who 'squares as I go' quilters. I make sure each segment is square before adding the next layer. I usually come out very very close to 'square' when it comes to the borders.

I try to make sure my rows are sewn together evenly - check by folding the quilt in half as I go is usually good enough.

On multiple borders or a medallion I do the measure top mid and bottom and cut the next border length to the average dimension.

To make sure my whole quilt top is square, I measure corner to corner in both directions. If corner to corner dimensions aren't the same, then I have to fiddle with it to adjust anything that got sewn a little crooked, or maybe just smooth it out a little better and starch, and then recheck cross wise, length wise, and kitty corner again.

Once the quilt is quilted, it is what it is and I don't mess with it. Maybe it might go out of whack because some bit is more heavily quilted? I know I started with good dimensions so I do no more than trimming off the excess, making sure my outside border width is consistent enough to give me my 1/4" seam with enough batting for a puffy binding.

I would always rather re-sew a bit here and there than cut. Cutting is not reversible! As the carpenter says when he cuts too short, put it on the board-stretcher! :)

Thank the Lord that my husband has made me a 9 ft by 9 ft quilting table so that my days of squaring on the floor are over. My knees are very happy too.

First I fold it into fourths and see how it looks, if it's way off, put a pin where it looks like it needs to be cut off, then lay it out and measure it, see if it still is off in the same spot, cut if necessary by laying the quilt on my cutting mat and cut straight with a long ruler. I am not a perfectionist, but this is how I do it.

More power to you!
I am not that up tight.
I lay all 4 corners together square them up than mark all corners rounded, stay stitch all edges and trim, then bind the quilt.
Corners always hang off the bed, rounded corners lays better and are easy to bind.

You mentioned wanting a lazer light but pricey. I found a small one in a hardware store on sale for about $5.00 and also found another in a big box store on sale also. They are handy for many things I have found. Hope you can find a bargain one soon

Mine are usually pretty square to start with, since I try to square everything up from the start (yes, I am a bit OCD), but then my LAQ is great about squaring up, too. I've never had to trim a quilt once I've gotten it back from her.

My method is very similar to this one - works very well.

I lay some of them on my husbands pool table...lol, of course he doesn't care for this idea, if the quilt is too big for that i go to the floor and then use the same method as some of the others, Tartan and Jan.

I can only imagine that your sewing space is amazing. I want to come play at your house...

I square up on my large table, with a pen and rulers. After I apply the binding using the line, I trim everything to the 1/4 inch.
MaryKatherine

I have only done 3 quilts, and have done it this way, as you Tartan and Jan...have done the measuring in all spots to put my borders on, too. Glad I did it "right" or the same as you respected quilters- BUT it seems kind of archaic compared to all the high tech notions we have these days!! One day maybe there be a quick magic way! (laser light is a start)

If you square as you go, do you square each finished square or each row?

I don't square up my quilts , they are not that far off . If they are off by a half inch who is going to know when its on the bed. And if any one is running around the bed measuring the quilt , than they better make there own lol

Finally, a kindred spirit! When I try to "square up", I wind up whittling the quilt smaller and smaller. Same thing happens on blocks. So I really concentrate on cutting the fabric accurately and sewing consistent seams.

Somehow, without worrying about squaring everything up, my quilts come out mostly square. So far, no one has complained about the quilt they get being out of square.

I stopped feeling bad about my slightly off-kilter quilts when I started quilting charity quilts by others. The backing for the first one I did was cut so short and kind of curved, that I couldn't use it. The quilt top and back were done by a very experienced, respected quilter, and I was hesitant to speak to her about it. Such a dilemma!

Finally,I just called the her and told her about it. She basically said, "Find a way to make it work! You won't hurt my feelings." So I did. I used a different fabric for the backing and then used the backing to make a pinwheel quilt.

Crooked quilts and squaring up one
 

It is easy to say "oh, my longarmer can straighten it up". Not true unless they want to take an extra day to do just that. There just went their profit unless they tell you upfront that there will be an extra charge. 100% better if you keep your blocks squared as you go. A 1/16 of an inch in a block in the center gets bigger exponentially by the time you get finished. I hate to try to quilt these. Sometimes I have to put pleats in the sides, not to mention that the quilt can pucker on the back and you don't see it til the next row.

Short version: square blocks as you are piecing, even ripping and resewing a seam or two if you have to, along with measuring and averaging width and length and cutting borders makes for a beautiful finished product. Jussayin' lol

This is a wonderful alternative to 90 degree corners. I am certainly going to try this, thank you Phyllis nm.

Square each block as you go and if you are adding a border, measure and average, cut on all sides. If it lies flat on the floor or table, it's square. If it waves at you on the edges, boooohoooo for the longarmer. There is ample instructions on how to do borders if you google adding borders. Jussayin'.