Quilting with fusible batting question
 

Hi! I am making a baby quilt with fusible batting. So far it is 6 (4in finished) squares by 9 (4in finished) squares, with one 2in finished and one 3 in finished borders around it. It has taken me a LONG time to figure out the borders (this is the third try, 1st I experimented with a satin border BAD idea, the second was not the right blue, and this time it is figured out) so I am finally getting to ironing on the batting and it isnt straight!! I have no idea if it is something with the construction of the quilt or if I am ironing it wrong. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am using fusible batting because I havent decided if I am going to upgrade my machine yet so I dont want to buy a walking foot until I figure that one one way or the other. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Should mention this is my first big quilting project :)

Press, do not iron, pressing is up and down, ironing is moving the iron back and forth. Did you measure your quilt before you sewed the borders on? Measure left side, center, and the right side. If you have different measurements, either trim the quilt or adjust the boarders to fit. I hope you understand this.

not sure about your comment about the walking foot---you still have to quilt your quilt with fusable batting- it just holds it in place in stead of having to baste- before quilting-
anyway-
what's not straight? the batting or the quilt? lay out your batting- smooth the top over it- press- then flip over- place backing over the batting- smooth- press- be sure to press the edges well- if they are not secure a few pins my be needed- then quilt as desired...once the quilting is done trim the batting/backing- squaring up your quilt for binding.

wow, I'm not sure. looks perhaps like your quilt wasn't straight. i have used fusible a lot and smooth the batting out on top of the backing (for large qlts) and then smooth the top on. then i start pressing with the iron in the center going outward. i use a folding table. you should be able to pull your quilt off the fusible batting.

Is there any chance that it is not as crooked as it seems in the picture? I can't tell if it is being held up crooked, perhaps, but if it really is crooked (easily enough verified with a tape measure), you probably will have to find a solution. The only way to know if the top is straight would have been to measure it before you ironed it down.

The squares look as if they are square. I think the problem occurred either when you sewed on the borders or ironed on the batting. The edges look as if they were stretched severely at some point. Will it release if you iron it again? I hope so because clearly you don't want to quilt it the way it is.

I have pretty good luck with spray baste. It can be repositioned if you don't get it the way you want it the first time. I have not tried fusible batting.

Hope you don't get discouraged. We all make lots of mistakes when starting out, and after many years, my seam ripper still gets plenty of use.

By the way, I love your choice of fabrics and the way you arranged them.

I might be wrong but it looks as if there is some puckering and "waving". The wavy lines normally comes from not measuring your borders right. If you just sew them on to each side instead of making them all the same size and easing the fabric in if needed for the difference you'll get the wavy thing going on. You need to measure your borders and it both sides should be the same (average them) and then measure the top end after you put the sides on and make sure the top and bottom borders are the same as well. I'm sorry if this isn't the case it may just be the way your quilt is layed out.

That is an adorable baby quilt. The bright colors are perfect and I know how frustrating it is to get to this stage and run into a problem. Unfortunately, just by looking at a photo it is hard to tell how crooked or stretched the borders are but my recommendation is to removed the outside border, make sure the quilt is square and flat, re-measure for your final border and reattach. Judy's method for measuring is spot on. Your quilt is beautiful and I am looking forward to seeing it completed.