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Fantastically timed question! I was just about to square up a wonky quilt and I was pondering how it was done rather than my old "guess and check" method.
Kristy |
Lately I have been measuring the border seam from the quilt seam (say 4 1/2 in) then trimming the excess. It never measures the same all the way around. It's like my quilting changes the measurement at the seam. I do square up my blocks.
Just found out the square laser I thought my husband had, is actually a laser level. BACK TO The DRAWING BOARD! |
I noticed that on mine too, I think it may be that I am not evenly quilting all over and that tweaks those seam lines :roll:
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I have a ruler that is 20" square and that is what I use when I am squaring up my quilts. It works wonderfully!
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I never square up a quilt after it has been quilted. My quilter serges around my quilts and rounds the corners for me. They are off a little, but not enough to be noticeable on the bed.
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I grade myself an intermediate beginner, since I have only been quilting for four years and some. I made two horribly wonky quilts that I never quilted. First was a flower basket set on point. The block was sixteen inches and somehow, after setting triangles, it turned out to be three inches off square, which was impossible. The second and most recent one was a bargello, and I know why that one was off square--I kept sewing the strips top to bottom in the same direction and it developed a big sway as I sewed on more strips--hmm, I saw a tape recently and found my error when the instructor said to sew one strip one way, then turn it over and sew the next strip to it, going the opposite direction. I measure the quilt on the floor, with a long measuring tape and the help of my DH. I measure through the middle then I use an inner small border--usually two inches and ease that to the quilt. After that, I measure again to make sure it is square, then I know that my outer border, and the quilt will also be square
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I square up using a large square ruler 15" or so and 24" long ruler. Place square at a corner and line up long ruler abutted to the square and trim 2 sides of the corner and along the length of the long ruler, move quilt and long ruler up the sides, I stop approxiamtely 24" from the next corner and the place the square on the corner and line up the long ruler with the square and where I stopped on the long edge. sometimes I do "fudge" a bit as sometimes it does not aline 100%. I work my way around using the quilt.
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There are some excellent videos on youtube.com by Linda Lawson. She has a video about squaring the quilt back, but you can use the same method for squaring the quilt top.
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Mine usually square up pretty good by measuring through the middle, one side to the other and cutting your borders to that measurement .... and then sew on those borders.........
and take the same measurements in the middles of quilt from top to bottom for the other two borders. That usually does it for me.........good luck....mj. |
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