This is probably one of those newbie mistakes, but I am making a basket-weave scrap quilt with flannel backing and the flannel seems to be stretching while I quilt it. I am using my walking foot and doing a basic stitch in the ditch along the seams (which is another story, I can't seem to stay in the ditch!). When I turn the quilt over to look at the back, I have folds at every intersection. What am I doing wrong? :-(

I have the same trouble with a walking foot, but no problem when I stretch it on a frame.

I always prewash and dry flannel *and* starch it heavily before using. The prewashing and drying take care of the extreme shrinkage that often happens with flannel, and the heavy starching keeps the flannel from stretching as I sew.

Perhaps you could get a heavy spray starch and starch the backing fabric even though it is already sandwiched? I have to be careful with spray starch because I always seem to have overspray, plus I tend to keep my iron so hot I scorch the starch when I iron. However, it might be worth doing some careful experimentation with spray starch to see if you can stabilized the flannel without taking the quilt sandwich apart.

Oh, and I no longer do SID because mine is always uneven and I don't like the look of it. I think it is much easier to do gently curving lines with the walking foot. There is no need then to watch the ditch like a hawk, and I like the softer look of the wavy lines.

I like to use basting spray when machine quilting. Flannel will give a little but the basting spray helps control this. Good luck!

I don't think you are making any mistake. Flannel is tricky to work with. I only use it for the back if I am making a quilt to be used daily and I don't care much about the look of the back. I like to use sheets that have been washed often.

Maria

Thanks for the advice. I'm glad to hear that flannel can be a bit tricky, I think I'll just keep this quilt in the family, maybe give away the next one. I like the wavy line advice too, I'm going to give that a try next time. I'm learning so much here!

Flannel is tricky to work with bit i'll often use it on a quilt that I know will be used for cuddling. Definitely not for show quilts.

The suggestions above are good. Always pre-wash and starch before quilting. It takes out a lot of the stretch problems. I've recently discovered 505 spray baste (it's actually kind of expensive in Canada) but it does help a lot. Otherwise, go baste wild because it does reduce a lot of the shifting.

I've also noted that there is a wide variety of quality of flannel out there. The better stuff (ie, the softer, heavier stuff) doesnt shift as much when you quit on it. I guess this is the same advice for regular quilting cotton.

Kristy

I washed my flannel and then bonded the quilt with basting spray and had very little stretching.

good idea.