So it's one of those days.
 

I'm fixing what I screwed up rather than creating. I finally am getting more than passable at stippling and have one I'm doing that's coming along pretty good or so I thought. Until I really looked it over and on the underside the backing is all folded up and caught in the stippling so today I have to take that all out and try to make it look right. Ever had to do this? :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: :mad::mad::mad:

Yes, I feel your pain, been there done that :-(

No never (as I cross my fingers while writing that big whopper of a lie.)

OK. So, did you just try and fill in and connect what got caught. Is it possible to make this look right?

Yep,I;m right there with you.I;m picking out some sorry quilting.I;m ashamed of the mess I made so.....I;m picking but I;m not grinning.Going to be along day.Would rather be creating on this icey day.

If the backing fabric is really caught and pleated in the stitching, I think you will really need to take it out, unless it's just a practice piece. How did you secure the sandwich? Sounds like the backing fabric was not tight enough or maybe not enough pins?

I found that it helps a *lot* to heavily starch the backing fabric before layering (I use a 1:1 solution of Sta-Flo and water), and to spray baste with 505. Starch stabilizes the fabric, making it harder for it to stretch or bend or fold over on its own. Spray basting makes a continuous connection between the 3 layers (instead of, say, connecting the layers with pins 4 inches apart). These two things have prevented puckers for me.

If there isn't a lot of those mess ups I leave them in...lol

I sit in the recliner with a big ole Coke and a chocolate candy bar and my sexy romance book and pout for an hour or so.:hunf:

Jan in VA

It's just right along one edge about an inch all the way down.. You take out the pins as you go. See what happened?

I think I fixed it, but I'm still mad. The front looked the best Iv' ever done. I took out the ends of loops and redid them as best I could. It's the few inches on one edge. It looks OK and if it's on a bed the stitches on one edge aren't really what people see. I put my least perfect quilt blocks there too on every quilt I make. I might have to work on something else for the rest of today since that took half of my day and I'm still mad at it.

I'm with you Jan :D I had to take out micro stippling ONCE--man, what a pain!

Do you use the starch in a spray bottle or do you immerse the backing into the starch? Is that a dumb question? :-/

Jan in VA, you are getting a double shot of energy. LOL Pretty soon you'll feel that surge and up and out of the chair you'll go and take out the stitching. Grin! Barny

Actually, I mix up the starch solution in a bowl and apply it to the fabric with a large wall painting brush until the fabric is saturated. I wait just a minute to make sure the fabric has absorbed the starch, then toss it in the dryer and iron with steam (which reactivates the starch). I usually do this before sewing the backing pieces together, but you could do it after the backing is pieced too. It makes the backing so stiff it won't pucker when you machine quilt.

You can use starch even if a quilt has already been sandwiched. Lay it on the floor and mist with spray starch (I used the canned spray starch) several times, allowing each starch layer to dry before adding the next (a fan will speed up drying time). The backing won't be as stiff, but this is often enough to stop puckers. You can also spray starch the top to help prevent puckers on the top when machine quilting (especially useful if your quilting lines will be crossing each other, as in crosshatching).

Jan that sounds like great therapy.

Yep, that's how it works! Or I wait too long, lingering with that book, and get so sleepy I head to bed for a nap, LOL! I do love being single AND retired.:D I wish it for all of you! (Well, the retired part anyway.:))

Jan in VA