Squaring up 108" backing
 

So I pressed all the creases out of my fabric (all 4 meters) then thought how in the world am I going to be able to square up this backing it's sooooo wide :shock:. So I went online and found this site where she uses her belly bar of her longarm. So off I go to do that...kinda slick really folded my material salvage to salvage....so I played and played until the fold laid straight. Folded again like she said, took it to my cutting table to trim and WHAT to make the ends square I will have to trim off 5"......:eek::shock: is this normal??????Here is the site I went to http://www.kimmyquilt.com/article/Backing/ you have to scroll down to the part where you are squaring up wide backing.

This seems to make sense on reading it, not sure if a 5" trim is normal or not!

I wouldn't be surprised to find that it's that far off square. Was the fabric ripped or cut from the bolt? Ripping assures that the edges are square with the grain. You might be able to straighten it some by having someone help you pull on opposite corners.

I've only ever ripped my wide bindings. If it was cut, I don't think 5" is that out of line on fabric of that width.

The store i buy wide backings at tears the 108 backings. And i'm glad.

Sadly it looks like last last purchase it was ripped and when they were preparing my order on this backing, the person cut my piece.

5" is probably not that unusual for 106" wide back. I like Kim Bruner's methods of squaring up the wideback on your LA belly bar, makes all that fabric manageable. If someone can help you pull it a bit into square (like I learned in 7th grade home ec) you might it it closer. I always ask for the wideback to be torn because its always off square. Hancocks always does it anyway, Joanne's doesn't unless I ask and even then you sometimes have to explain that one fold is cut and then carefully torn instead of just a yank.

Yes, that 108" wide backing is usually off grain. If you can get someone to help you, you can pull the opposite corners and stretch it to make it more square. At work, we've been tearing it instead of cutting it because it isn't always folded smoothly. But even with tearing, the center can bulge.

I rip mine!

I can understand how difficult it is to square up backings. I have a large cutting table 4' x 8' but I think I'm going to try this technique the next time as it would surely be easier for me. Thanks for the site on this tip.

I don't worry about squaring it up. I line mine up with the edge of the table leaving 2-3" over hang and start pinning. I no longer start pinning in the center. After many, many quilts I find this to be less wasteful. After pinning I trim all sides leaving 2-3". This makes it easier for me to quilt on my 9" throat machine.

I tear mine as well.

when I was quilting on my DSM, I never squared at all, but the long arm won't play nice without it being square--it's like a bad foundation on a house.

I have found that the wide backings can be off that much when squaring up. I think it's because of the size and it's hard for them to print it perfectly straight. It sure is nice though not to have that seam when longarmming.

I tear mine, too. I used to try to cut it and always had problems. When I heard about tearing it, I tried it and found that it solved my problem. Because it is so off I always buy extra.