Squaring a panel
 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]615305[/ATTACH]I have squared up ( sort of) a panel baby quilt to get ready to put on the binding. This panel wasn't too bad but invariably I end up trimming off the last solid border to get it squared. It went from 1/4 to 3/8 out but I kind of fudged a bit where it will be covered with the binding.

I would have tried to square it up by wetting it and using pins or weights to stretch it to square. I have even used steam with good results. Cutting is a last resort for me.

Tartan,

I can see the issue in your picture. Try this for next time.

Put the ruler over the quilt to square up. Tug the quilt out the line you want. I use the point of a seam ripper or stiletto and gently tug the edge into shape. I can usually pull the quilt into something fairly reasonable as there is a little stretch.

I don't need to wet the quilt but that might help too.

Good luck!

I've ordered panels to use for my Project Linus Quilts many times....some have been cut so wonky that I have to remove part of them and add another border on to have them straighten out and be the size I need.

Tartan, thank you so much for addressing this topic! I've been quilting for many years, making mostly art/wall quilts and I think I'm finally able to square them up, but they always need adjustment.

I use a gridded interfacing on my design wall, on top of the batting that covers the design wall. Many people use a table cloth that has squares to use as a grid. I pin my quilt on it, spray it with water or Magic Sizing and steam press. I also make the border larger than I want so I can trim it if necessary. All of that is done once the top, batting and backing are assembled. Because I make art quilts, I add an extra layer of felt to make the quilt lay straight.

I use my sewing table (lucky enough to have a generous dining table size). I tape down one selvedge edge and one long side, tugging as needed and even dampening if it is really skewed. Then I square up the third side again tugging, dampening, taping as I go and finally the last side. Spray the whole thing with water and let dry. I find this is the easiest way. I have wondered about trimming because the panel could try to revert to its proper form when washed and then the quilt would be out of whack.

I have a panel in my stash that is so bad I can't believe they ever really intended the top square to be square! The rest of the designs in the panel look square and work together but that top one is just really off in one corner. I've tried the diagonal tug on the corners like I was taught in my 1972 home ec class but that wasn't enough. I haven't washed it yet, sometimes that helps the wonky factor and other times it makes it worse. Fortunately for me it's only going into a pieced quilt back if it makes it there at all.

Todays panels are poorly woven and are extremely stretchy in my opinion. I have taken to using a very light stabilizer (like for t-shirt quilt) to keep them from getting wonky. I made a lovely horse themed quilt a couple of years back with a panel, and try as I might the first borders around the panel were awful. Then I realized it wasn't Me, it was the lack of quality in the panel. So I stabilized and finished the quilt. So much of todays fabric doesn't have the good thread count and thickness that the good fabric used to have. Do a stretch test on almost any new 100% Cotton fabric and it's flimsy and stretches almost like a knit. We are the victims of overseas standards now.