cathyvv

Every panel is unique; made my grand daughter a Harry Potter quilt from a panel. I tried all the tricks known to me to get that panel straight and nothing worked. The solution was to cut a width of fabric strip of one of the border fabrics and then ever so carefully cut it length wise on the diagonal, creating two wedges. After sewing the wedges on the panel, it was as squared as it was going to get. Then I sewed the border strips to the 'squared' panel. The quilt was still a bit wonky, but, hey, it's Harry Potter and his world is wonky. Grand daughter was 20 when she got it and loves it.

As the saying goes, sometimes I amaze myself...

tuckyquilter

I just squared up an quilter Horse panel today. I always make sure it's correctly cut on all sides. THEN the quilt will be much easier to sew. I pick a line on the panel and use that as my guide for the ruler. I love panels, as half the work is done.

bkay

Yes, Timeless Treasures has some great panels. I have the Pickles panels shown in the Laura Coir youtube video. I don't have all the fabrics, as it was already in liquidation before I knew it existed. I had seen that video previously.

My butterfly panel is almost straight, so very little will be required to get it straight. I plan to cut off the selvage and do some measuring to make sure it's as square as I can get it. It's Thanksgiving week, so the quilt has gone to the background to get ready for the holidays.

Thanks so much for your help.

I'll post it when I get the top finished.

bkay

bearisgray

How I deal with panels -

1) Before purchasing, check to see if it is printed "on-grain" -

Of course, I learned to do this by buying off-grain panels

2) Wash the fabric and let it relax -

For me, it's just easier to let it "do it's thing" than to try to fight with it

3) I prefer to have things on the straight of grain, so I would trim it to be as "squared" as possible, and then add borders as necessary to make it work.

I am of the (strong) opinion, that if something is printed off grain - no amount of tugging, blocking, starching, is going to get it to be printed off-grain. One can compensate for it in various ways - but if it's printed off-grian, it is printed off-grain.

bkay

Fortunately, this one doesn't appear to be printed off grain, just cut crooked.

Thanks so much for your help. This forum has been a real help while I'm learning to quilt.

bkay