This is the second quilt I have done that I have wavy borders!! I made a Christmas quilt last year and could not quilt it cause the sides of the quilt were so wavy. I figured that was cause my flying geese were not squared. Now this quilt I have been real careful with and everything was fine till I did the last border and I tried laying it down on the livingroom floor to take a photo and it won't lay flat. I have been working on this quilt since May and finally completed it and was so excited but now I am so disapointed. I read in the achives about how to do borders and measured the center of the quilt and all but I don't know what I did wrong. Makes me want to stop trying to quilt. I do really well till I get to the borders. I am sending a photo with this message so you can see the wavy border...along the bottom of the quilt you can see the ripples where it won't lay flat. :-(

I think it is perfect!

I saw somewhere a lady made it look like there was a false seam. that might help. Sorry all that beautiful work. Maybe when you quilt it it would lay flat??

Oh shoot. Here, this will make you realize it takes a while to get really good. Practice, practice!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzoL7ddTEnA

are these mitered?

Yes..they are mitered corners. Could this be my downfall?

Honestly... its so beautiful no one but you will notice. =)

Well watching that video did make me feel a little bit better cause my waves are not near as bad as some of the ones in that video. But this can't be quilted like this can it? I just can't stand knowing it has something major wrong with it. I can deal with the little minor imperfections and know that quilts are not going to be perfect but I just can't figure what I am doing wrong....

Corry, I also think it's beautiful but if you're not happy you're not happy! I hope you can quilt it out.

Beautiful quilt and I bet you can quilt that out!

Are you stretching the fabric as you're sewing? I would use a cotton batting and when you quilt it and shrink it up, I think you'll like it better.

Before borders~
lay quilt out flat
measure across the quilt in 3 areas, top, middle and bottom.
lets say it is 50-51-52 inches
I would cut 2 borders out at 51" (average of the 3 measurements)
pin and sew.
Repeat the same on the next border... should help square up a quilt.

As a quilter, I would take the borders off and fix it. I have seen where there were 9" of extra border in a quilt.
Quilting this out is hard with out pleating the quilt.

I am pretty sure "You can quilt that OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think it is beautiful.

I am no expert, by any means, but I am guessing it could be the mitered corners. If you flatten it out with your hand where do most of the waves seem to be? Near the corners or all along? If you can play with it and figure out a way to adjust the corners that might help. Use that seam riper and try again.

I think it looks better than you think, but I can see a ripple in the bottom border. Did you measure the top, middle and bottom & divide by 3? That is how I was taught. I would rip out the bottom border, remeasure it and cut off the extra (it only appears to be an inch or so) and sew it back on. Its a very pretty quilt and don't give up on quilting.

I see it. Hmmm....

First, when you have busy fabrics in the border, just do a straight border. No one is ever going to notice that you worked so hard! Save that effort for when it will show.

If you measured before you sewed, make sure you use lots of pins. I mark, with pins, where the middle and quarter points are on both the base of the quilt and on the border. I put the base of the quilt with the border and match up the pins. I add more pins in between. If there is some fullness in either the base or the border I try to keep it where it is - don't move the fullness somewhere else.

Now, if all that didn't work, I'm going to swear you to secrecy:

Try starch, sizing or Best Press. Soak the offending area, and use an iron to press it into submission.

After that, you'll want to 'quilt to death' that border. It will suck up extra fabric and keep it where you want it. Piano keys and bead board (piano key with two line about 1/4" away from each other) also help suck up extra fabric and look great on busy fabrics. If you try to do just a little bit of quilting, it will look lumpy after it is washed, so quilt it down!

Once you're done, the quilt will look great. Make sure you let us know if these tricks work for you, and SHHHHH!!!!

HTH!!

First of all - DO NOT STOP QUILTING BECAUSE OF WAVY BORDERS!

Second of all - maybe you are just showing how clever you are. If any of us want wavy borders, we'd need you to show us how to do it. And why wouldn't we want wavy borders - they add dimension to your quilt!

Third of all - that's a gorgeous quilt that you can be proud of. So the border is a little wavy. Show me a quilt that's perfect and I'll show you a quilter who's a heck of a lot better than I am!

Lastly - be proud of what you have accomplished, consider the advice you get from this board, and on your third quilt just don't use a wide border. Problem solved.

Shelley gave you excellent advice! I have found that mitered borders have a tendency to be wavier then the straight borders, but not always! I agree with Shelley though, you can quilt that out with heavy quilting in the borders. Can't wait to see what you do with it!

other than taking them off and remeasuring and resewing them on, you could take the seam out from the center toward the corners till you come to areas that are not wavy, then take a seam in the center to make it fit. then resew back on.
usually you measure the quilt top in the middle-that will be the measurement of the top and bottom borders. then later measure the length down the center, that will be the measurements of the side borders. just add seam allowances. place the borders on, matching centers and corners and pin. then sew.

It doesn't look like a big "wave". I think you can quilt it out.

I like Shelley's advice. Of course she is my quilter and does miracles on my quilts.
I've learned to pin pin pin. Also starch starch starch. And measure.
Don't give up, no no no.
Your quilt is beautifal. You did a fantastic job on it. :thumbup:

Your quilt looks wonderful!

Your quilt looks beautiful but I can see some ruffling where you pointed it out. I have found that using the HST border sometimes creates too much fullness in the next border even when you think the squares are perfect. What I have done is stay-stitch the edge of the HST's being careful not to stretch at all. Then measure for your next border and attach. Hope this helps.

had the same thing happen to me recently. it was the mitered corners. i had to take out the miters and redo them. i had about 1 inch too much fabric in the corners. the small ripples that were left i was able to steam out. don't move the quilt until the fabric cools or it can strech again. good luck

could you post a pic of the corners? might help to see whats happening there.

I bet this could be quilted out. I've seen much worse turn out fine. Be careful when you attach your borders. Some people tend to tug a bit on the border when sewing and it is enough to make waves. Try sewing the border on with the border on the bottom and the rest of the quilt top on the top. Sounds funny but sometimes is all it takes! Good luck and whatever you do...don't give up on quilting. You'll get the hang of it.

Love it !!!!

I would try to figure out why it is wavy - remove it - fix it - and sew it back on.

Overall, that is a very attractive quilt.

This is at the point where you can change/fix it - if you choose to do so.

I think "trying to quilt something out" to make it better is in the same category as putting on dirty underwear after taking a shower. You may be the only one that knows - but you DO know!

I also think that it puts an unfair expectation on the LAQ - although many of them seem to be able to perform miracles.

Try, with a basting stitch, re-mitering the corners. Start at the outer corner with a 1/2" seam and slant into the inner corner. That should take up some of the excess. If it works then sew it with a smaller stitch. If it doesn't the basting stitch won't be too hard to take out.

Beautiful quilt , good luck in finding a solution - it is far too nice to not be finished .

I had made a king size quilt for my son and his wife and I procrastinated for about 5 years before I decided to try to get the border on it. I was so afraid it would be wavy.
I finally told a dear friend of mine. She happens to be a very experienced quilter/quilt instructor, has written quilting books and has many patterns out.
She said just measure the sides and cut the border to fit that measurement. Same with the ends. It worked like a charm. I didn't need to measure in 3 place and take an average. The quilt laid nice and flat.

Ditto! :thumbup:

I think it is beautiful I don't see wavy borders.

I don't think anyone will notice the borders. They will just be looking at the horses and your beautiful quilt. i'm a horsie person and this is wonderful :thumbup:

Just watched that video. That is hilarious!!!!

That what I did. What I did was hand finish so the seam is "closed". Small stitches. Take your time. Pin before you sew. Even if you don't pin. I've had success with. I also find that if I use multiple borders I miter every other one not every one.

I agree with Treasureit if it is only the borders I would take them off and try to figure out what wenr wrong and fix it it is a beautiful quilt worth the extra work

I would just fix the bottom border....love the quilt

This is good, but I usually measure through the centers. Then the sides don't have a chance to be larger! Also, too late for this quilt, but I always try to buy enough fabric to be able to cut the border the length of the fabric, not selvedge to selvedge. Lengthwise cut the fabric does not stretch as much as across the fabric. Kind of a headache to figure out out much fabric to get, but worth it I think. I also will cut the binding this direction as well. Eliminates a lot of seams in the binding! JMHO!