This last week has not been good to me as far as quilting. The top of my Railfence has been done for a few days. I sandwiched it, and sewed it together. I took it to hang on my quilt hanger and noticed that the quilt didn't go together like it was suppose to. I was so upset. I was ready to throw it in the trash. I walked away to allow a little cool down time. To make a long story short I had to cut the backing material from the quilt. If I hadn'd promised my sister I would make this for her, I would just forget it. I am now trying a different approch to putting on the backing. I have tried startching, spray adhessive, and several other sugestions I have received. Hope to have this finished in time for christmas.

I am so sorry you are having a bad week. Are you taping the backing down to the floor/table with a painters tape before laying on the batting and top? If not, try it this way, I pull it pretty snug and tape it on all four corners.

Good luck. Ia m sure your sister will love it.

Oh, I can relate to this! Last night I put the same pin through three different fingers, my sm needle through my thumb and cut my fingers with my scissors twice. AND my thread kept breaking no matter what I did!

I put everything in a box, cleaned up the space and covered everything for the night. I eventually went back and finished but holy cats, it was not a good night.

Just keep going - we've all been there. You can do it!

Hugs! I do mine like Candi. I think you just need to take a break!

I've had a bad few weeks but not really quilting related so I can sort of relate to you. I hope it gets better. Hugs!!

Angie

Come on now .... no givin up, no Quilt Police.

Mine was kind of bad also, tension off and way off at times, did a lot of frogging around here!!! Resetup on that a couple of times and more than a few #%&$$@! Then it decided to go correctly, tada.

If all else fails tack and tie, and sign it with Love :)

When you make the "sandwich" is the backing completely free of wrinkles? Do you have a large enough flat area to either tape it down (like a clean kitchen floor, for example) or clamp it to a large table top? Make sure you're backing is wrinkle free before placing your batting on top of that and then your top. Pin, pin, pin, and pin some more!! Start your quilting in the center of the quilt and work to the ends. As I'm quilting, I give the backing a slight "tug" as I'm going along, especially after I remove pins that are in my path. This smooths any wrinkles that might have been in the backing from pinning.

When you're done quilting, square up the quilt before binding.

Don't give up. Take it slow. We were all beginners once upon a time. It will get easier as you get more experience.

Hope this helps.

I am sorry. Hate when you have a bad tim trying to do good things.

Sounds like when I was doing 4 table runners and sewed the batting to the right side of the fabrics!
then Machine no. 1 quit--then the second one quit, then I could not find the sewing foot for No, 3 machine, and No. 4 would not run......No. 5 is the wimp of the bunch
We all have days like that-----anyone have a frame you can borrow? Even 1/2s with clamps will work!

I have laminated wood flooring in my sewing room. I use MaskingTape and tape the end of the backing down using sometimes 3 layers. Then I go to bottom pull and hold having already got me a stripe abt. 5 inches long and tape it down like that all the way across.Tape is Long ways, then I tape it across these going all the way across without stopping until I am at the other end. Do the same to the sides. I very seldome have any wrinkles. For a small quilt I use basting spray. On a large one I Baste.
Now to not prick my Laminated floor, (Husband would get upset as He put it down, you have to start at the end to replace. )( I got this from someone on this Board, don't remember Who, But I sure do love them for it.) either put a Big marble or a spool, I use a cone spool, It is easier for me to roll than the marble and I get more room for pin. Just put under backing and roll it as you baste, no pin pricks in wood. Works on carpet too,so you don't sew basting thread in carpet, done that lots of times. :lol: The Trick to not have any wrinkles in your quilt is making sure your backing is taunt enough. Then either spray baste or sew baste your sandwiched quilt. Good Luck and don't fret to stop quilting, I have been where you are at and so has most of the people on this board.
BillsBonBon

Hugs,and hang in there.Your sister is going to love it..pab

Keep at it...we all have times when it seems nothing goes right. I am sure it will all work out in the end and you will have one happy sister.

We all have those kinds of days. I had a quilt that I finished and hung and THEN saw I put the color placement wrong. It's was still a beautiful quilt but it made me very upset!

I did a rail fence and it gave me fits when I was putting the top together. I thought it was correct. Fortunately, I was on retreat and proudly put it on the design wall to show off my top and noticed the second to last row had an error it it. YUCK, another rip out.

For me the rail fence was a real bear, fotunately, it was only a lap quilt. That being said I plan to do another one, I liked the way it finally turned out. It was such a confidence boost.

Oh those bad times. Yes, we can all commiserate with you. There are times when I am machine quilting (regular machine - not a long arm) that I take the whole quilt off the machine and smooth it out - look at the back, smooth it out and repin. Oh yes, been there with you. Keep at it. Soon you'll be showing us some spectacular work!

Hope you are having a better AM

Have a better day. Been there and done it. I have a bad back also. I put two big utility tales together and they are thin enough to use binder clips on, but tape might be better.

I've had a K size UFO for the better part of a yr.Finally decided to square it up & send off to LA quilter.My back was giving me fits & glad it was finished. I shook it out to show DH & noticed 2 blocks side by side,on side edge & set wrong way.
DH took it, folded it nice & boxed it.Said it's fine for us or one of our DDs...that's good enough & off he went to the PO.Can't get down on floor...so it's hard to see the whole quilt. Have a better day.

never quit. But having a sundae, watch a movie and start again tomorrow. After all tomorrow is another day.......I think I heard that somewhere.

Because I can no longer grovel around on the floor and don't have a quilt-sized table, I've tried several basting methods, some better than others. However, a few weeks ago I came across these video tutorials (2 parts) and have used it since. I have enjoyed complete success the first time, every time. And I'm pleased to say that after the first one, it actually now takes far less time than the other methods.

The bigger the quilt, the longer the boards. But as long as the majority of the (rolled) weight sits atop the table, it doesn't matter too much what size the table is. I particularly love being able to comfortably sit in one spot and baste a full-sized quilt with predictable results.

Hope you find these helpful too. Go to:

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhwNylePFAA

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_EjB...eature=related

When my quilt is bigger than my table, which is most of the time, I clamp my backing to the table, starting in one corner. Then I use spray basing between the layers, moving the sandwich from corner to corner. I peel back the top 2 layers, spray, lay the batting, spray, & lay the top.

When the spray basting is done, I turn the sandwich over to smooth any wrinkles, again doing one corner at a time. Then I hand baste, again, a corner at a time.

Whenever possible, I go somewhere they have banquet tables, like a church, library or community center.

When things keep going wrong, for me the best thing is to walk away for a day or more. I have had time to process the problem, and things work better.

Go to You Tube and watching Sharon Schambers tutorial on Basting your Quilt Sandwich. She shows a unique way of putting your sandwich to gether which I have done several times and it is wonderful.. It is easy and leaves you with a unwrinkled back. She bastes hers and I did the same but I think I will try spray basting with her mathod. I promise you will never go back to the old way. You also do not need a hughe table to lay it out. I did two large lap quilts on my kitchen island.

I know what you mean. I had a quilt that completely bamboozled me. I hated working on it and I finally threw it away. Life is too short. It was just for my personal use though. I don't know what I would have done had it been at someone else's request. I might have told them the problem and asked them to be patient.

I tried to pinbaste a mystery quilt on a 42 inch round table and the biggest mystery was why I thought it would work!

Thanks for all the infomation I received about putting my quilt together. I watched the video and I think I will try that. Hope it works.

Joyce

I quilt my batting onto only THE QUILT top first. I have yet to find a way to do all three layers together without messing up the back with those nasty little pinches! By concentrating on top and batting, it looks great! When I finish that, I put that onto the back with some stitching on the machine. I can concentrate on that side and voila! No puckers! Yes, it may take some extra time but it is far less frustration and it always comes out beautifully. Oooppps, as a matter of fact, I should be quilting right now! Enjoy. Simplify.

you know how babies can sense their mother's stress & become colicky? At times, I swear quilts have the same instincts...

I've got some triple irish chain blocks I'm getting ready to quilt for pillow tops. I spent hours free-hand drawing the pattern for the celtic knot I'm going to quilt into it and then pin basting the thing (it's 20.5 inches square). I went into my sewing room this morning and looked at it laid out on the bed that doubles as my design area, and noticed that the muslin and batting is so ridiculously crooked behind the block I couldn't rightfully even consider quilting it that way. Thankfully, I wasn't looking forward to starting the quilting until after the holidays anyway, so I was able to just shake my head and walk out of the room. Wish me luck trying to get it all straightened out down the road!

look at mistakes as design opportunities

I like this way of thinking!

:thumbup:

Oh Joyce, it is so good for me, not you, to hear your complaint, as I have had some real problems with the first quilt I have made for my bed. I have always given them away as gifts, now that I tried a harder one for self, it has been nothing but a headache. I have made so many mistakes, I am ready to throw in the garbage too! And to hear from so many more quilters, to know I am not the only one struggling, makes me feel better.

I always pin the layers first, then hand baste about 8" apart in both directions. I've never had wrinkles in my backing, and don't have to worry about pins falling out or sticking myself with one of them.

That's a great idea. I've never heard that before. I will definately be trying that next time!

This is for basting as I found out, but it also worked on keeping out the puckers.