so i finished up the latest baby quilt actually did everything by the book so i thought please tell me what i did wrong or is it the fabric?


i am just sick i could have cried. on the good side it all washed up soooo soft perfect for baby. the sad part is the flannel on the back washed up fine not a bit of raveling. can this be fixed and what can i do in the future? i think my fur babies just got themselves a new blankie
WAAAAA!

looks like you definately did NOT have a good full seam, it must have been just barely caught in these places and pulled out. also if your stitch length is too long when your piecing it gives it room to move around and pull apart. I couldn't tell, how was it quilted?

What a shame---not sure what went wrong

oh NO!! How sad for you! I would think that maybe you weren't consistant in your 1/4" seams?? I have this happen to me in my machine applique after its been washed a bit..which is making me do it all raw egde. If its gonna ravel I might as well plan it that way. =)

Did you wash on a short delicate cycle? Sorry that this happened.

Sheesh, you must feel soooooo bad. Did you prewash the sashing fabric? And I am wondering too about the seam allowence..............as far as saving it ..........what about using strips to patch it? Perhaps iron the area flat and than apply the patch? Too much work to not try something...........calla/Sue

What a shame to see such a cute quilt come apart like that; I'm so sorry this happened!

I try to make my baby quilts as indestrucable as possible, so some of the things I pay special attention to include:

Start out with good quality quilting cotton with a nice tight weave.
Prewash, starch and press all the fabric before cutting.
Choose a good quality thread both for piecing and quilting.
Full 1/4 inch seams.
Shorter than "normal" stitch length.
Pressing the seams all to one side as I construct the top.
Machine quilting (usually a combo of FMQ and stich in the ditch), no farther apart than recommened for the batting I am using.

I didn't learn this all at once either, and totally understand how you must feel. I've had some mishaps as I go along too, and just try to learn from them.

Oh no. Hope you can fix it. Such a shame with all the work you put into it.

SVS your quilt got messed up in the washing. Feel so bad for you.

i made sure all seams were 1/4 in even pinned every strip used starch this is the third baby quilt i have done and this is the first to do this and it just wasnt the couple spots all but about 4 patches did this i guess i should go back to not being as careful about everything as in the other 2 i did not wash on delicate as i always wash my quilts first as a non quilting person would this is a baby quilt and it is going to need to be put thru rigourous treatment the one thing i will try next time is short smaller stitches

It looks like your quilt was tied. This allows for a lot more wiggle room in the washer/dryer and will allow the seams of a loosly woven fabric to fray apart.

So, When piecing with flannel I take 1/2 inch seams instead of 1/4 inch seams especially if you ar going to tie it rather than quilt it.

Quilting will help prevent this, even if its just in the ditch quilting.

I agree with Azwendyg...and you tied it so that gives it a lot of wiggle room. Does you washer have a agitator? that will give it more room to pull seams apart; you could in addition to pre-washing fabric surge the seams to lock them...Sorry that it happened. I have seen it happen a lot. I save flannel for raggy shaggy quilts or backs where it isn't cut up a lot.

Is it flannel? Good idea is to use good 1/2" seams on flannel...it's very unpredictable in the ravelling. I would pink all the edges of flannel. Also, you must wash it all before in warm and dry it hot to get it all to shrink. Flannel is such a pain, I don't use it much at all. So sorry this happened to your quilt...it is really cute!!

no the back is the only flannel and did not fray at all the front is all cotton fabric dont use any other on baby quilts i will be doing a finishing zig zag seam from not on. and the hand tied was not it i hand tied the last two which were about half flannel and half cotton a few little frays here and there but this is almost the WHOLE quilt top. i am hoping joanns will do something not holding my breath but i can hope

make sure the 1/4 is on both side of your material, some time when we sew it will slips.

I am so sorry this happened. I would try SID along with/or without the ties to anchor it in place.

I think what happened is that you may not have had a good , at least 1/4 inch seam allowance and the quilt appears to be tied. Looks like it was not tied close enough and when the washing machine agitated the fabrics pulled more since the tying was so far apart. When you read on the batting packages how far apart the quilting needs to be, at a minimum, I think same might apply for the tying. Too much pulling on the fabrics during the washing process.

i did wash it by itself maybe should have put another blanket or something else with it

when ever i use flannel (or any heavier than cotton fabric) i adjust my pattern and use 1/2" seams. one way to make sure you have the top and bottom even for piecing you should have the bottom fabric show just a thread or two beyond the top piece that way when you sew you know the back is caught in the seam just as well as the top. also, prewash flannels. thin, loose weave, single sided flannels fray the most, if possible always try to find the thicker double sided flannels. but i think if you make sure your fabrics are evenly together and you use a wider seam you will not have this problem anymore.

I'm so sorry this happened to you.

I am crying with you and so sorry it happened.

Oh my goodness! I'm heartsick for you. It does look like a 1/4" seam issue. I'm terribly sorry this happened to you.

I am sorry this happened. It looks like it is just that one piece of fabric that pulled throughout the quilt. No way you could have known that was going to happen. With it being cotton you would not have expected that piece of fabric to respond differently than the other squares.
I am glad it happened before you gifted it. Some times you just gotta say "Ummmmm", that didn't work. Sorry, you did all you could do.

Sorry, can't see your pictures.

i did gift it just the top and told her i needed to finish it thought i had backing for it but didnt. so now i get to do it all over again woohoo guess i should have known it really did go to well lol

click on download

I wonder if your stitches were fully forming when you were piecing, since you said all of your seams were good?
I paper pieced almost a full quilts worth of blocks, before I noticed the stitches were bad :(

I am so sorry this happened to you :(

I think you need to make sure you have a 1/4 in seam and small stitch lenght...I never pre wash and never had that happen with flannel

I recongnize those fabrics, and I had the same problem on a quilt that I made. I know it sounds crazy but I think its the fabric. I made a wall hanging with that yellow fabric and it did the same thing. Same with the orange fabric.

this is what i thought because everyplace it fell apart was the same fabrics and the flannel that is on the back washed perfect no problems at all from now on i will run a zigzag around the edge of the top and wash it then sandwich.

oh you poor thing. I would be Sick, too. I work with a lot of flannel, and the ladies here have offered good advice. Maybe if you hold a little funeral, you'll feel better... :-(

After the download screen appears, select browse, then select Internet Explorer. (that's what I had to do for these)

sorry about the way u have to view the pics computer just got a full restore and still dont have everything quit right yet.