Squaring quilt question
 

Do any of you have tried and true methods of squaring a quilt? Or do you have a favorite video on how to do so?

I have always had my quilter square them for me and now I want to learn how to do it myself since I purchased the longarm.

Thanks so much in advance!

The best advice I got was square it up as you go. Square the blocks. Most importantly, make sure your top is square before you add your borders. There's usually not too much to do after that. For large quilts, I use a 20.5" square up ruler. I square up the corners, then use a 6' ruler (Lowe's $11) to do the sides.

Laser squares
 

I haven't used these yet, still working on my first quilt, but they seem like a good idea! I got 2 so I could lay out the quilt and see how all 4 sides would line up.
This is not the exact photo - I got mine from alibaba.com. https://www.tool-net.co.uk/data/tool...SFT90Laser.jpg

I make sure my blocks are all square before stitch them into rows. I wouldn't be concern if a quilt is square unless you are going to place it in competition.

After I quilt on my longarm I use my 12" square ruler to square the corners before adding the binding. I mark the areas off the square with pencil, sew the binding to the pencil marks and trim the excess before folding and sewing down the binding on the second side. If you trim before adding binding you may have trouble with loosened batting getting in your way. I must have learned this from someplace but really don't remember from where but it does work for me.

I try to be accurate in my cutting and sewing as i go, then there is minimal need for "squaring up" before i put on the binding. I also abide by the rule "If it can't be seen from a galloping horse, then it doesn't matter."

Kimmy Brunner did two excellent webinars for HandiQuilter on how to make sure that a quilt comes out square after longarming, even if it wasn't square before then. I just watched them yesterday, and I learned a lot. Look on HandiQuilter's site under education/webinars.

Dunster, thank you for the HQ webinar information.

Like Becca, I try to cut and piece accurately along the way... I will finalize my "squaring up" by using my 12 1/2 inch square ruler and my 6x24 inch ruler.

After quilting I use my giant square ruler (I think it's 20" square) to square up the corners, then I use the same ruler along each side, trimming to join the previous corner cuts. That huge ruler is expensive, but well worth the cost when squaring up quilts.

I agree - great info! March 2016 & July 2016 Webinars @ www.handiquilter.com/webinar

I recently made a queen sized log cabin quilt for a gift. I made sure each block (6 1/2") was square and the correct size. The finished quilt was exactly square when I finished. I did trim each block as I made the rows--all 196 of them. I was so glad to finish that quilt and gift it to my DGD !
Sue

Harbor Freight has fairly inexpensive 48" aluminum rulers, $5 currently but under $10 when not on sale. Home Depot and Lowe's have a 72" aluminum ruler for under $15. That plus the big 20" square ruler should cover most of all measuring needed for bigger quilts.

That's exactly what I do. Love the 20.5 inch square ruler I have - worth every penny.

What is this little gizmo called?
I am going to check out the video dunster suggested, and probably take my hubby to a hardware store (I won't even have to beg to go there!) and pick up the large square

Just finished a double irish chain and the one block is 25 one inch squares. After I make the block, I press it w/ spray starch. The spray starch makes the block damp and i could tug, pull, stretch, and square it up, too.