MarthaVA

Just wondering, has anyone used the Sharon Schamber method of squaring up a quilt with the spray starch? I am going nuts trying to figure out how to get my table large enough to do this - I think its so much better to make sure the entire quilt is square........then if the outside needs trimming, do that after using the starch method.

Don't know if this is confusing or clear as mud........sorry.

Thanks in advance for any replies. :-)

Martha

craftybear

what is the link for Sharon's site???

amma

Can you use the floor?

To square up the whole quilt this way, I wondered if it would go back after it is washed and dried, and you would have to do it again each time? Just a random thought... :wink:

Prism99

Does she really square up a bed sized quilt top this way??? I thought that method was for squaring up individual blocks, or maybe a small wallhanging.

Twisted Quilter

For squaring blocks:

http://sharonschambernetwork.com/Classes.aspx

patricej

one assumes she's an expert, so maybe it would retain its shape after washing.

personally, though, i wouldn't try that method on anything but a throw-together utility quilt.

quiltingfan

I can't imagine doing that with a big quilt either. Even though I am sure her quilts look a lot more professional than mine. I do have a weeding ring quilt that I have just started to hand quilt, that I am considering taking out what I have done and starting over and instead of pinning it I will baste it now that I know how to do it. (Maybe not though) I am quiet lazy when it comes to taking things out and redoing them but then it is going to my dad for Christmas since it was his mothers quilt that I am finishing.

quiltinghere

I wonder WHY she would want to make a block *1/2"* bigger?

I know you don't have the answers. Is this the only block or starter block for a medallion quilt? Either way - I'd unsew and resew.

I couldn't see doing this for a number of blocks...take too long.

What happens to the quilt after it's all quilted and then washed and that fabric that was stretched shrinks?

Thanks for posting - but no thanks for using it...especially when trying to stretch it 1/2".

MarthaVA

Wow, lots of good responses/questions.

On her site, she shows doing this w/one block, and also with a lap (?) sized quilt. She uses 2 lasers and tape to make exact lines and then pins the quilt top as she does the smaller block.

The explanation of why she squares up this way makes sense to me - but then, I'm new to this whole quilting thing! :roll:

She does this, instead of cutting off the outside edges to square up, because it's not the outside edges that are "off." Even tho you cut evenly, and you sew perfect 1/4" seams, when the quilt top is finished, it becomes distorted from the sewing, ironing and pulling. So your blocks in the quilt are correct, just distorted. Therefore, cutting off the outside edge isn't really the answer to the quilt being square.

I find it difficult to square a quilt by cutting off the border that I worked so hard to get right. And really, if you look at the squares within the quilt top, once you're finished sewing, they really are what's off. And tearing out and starting over would not fix it. Its just distorted.

Anyway, I find it totally interesting, but am driving myself crazy to find a large enough work surface to do this on for a quilt top I just finished. It is about 50" x 65" and need a larger surface than my table. I cannot work on the floor - my knees and back won't allow it, not to mention the 2 dogs and 1 cat that feel the quilt top is on the floor for them! :lol:

Thanks for all the responses. It is an interesting concept I think....and may give it a try if I can find the right tables to cover and do this with. If not, I'll have to resort to the old fashioned way of doing it............chop chop.

Have a GREAT day!
Martha

MarthaVA

O, and here is the exact site for where she does the entire squaring up the quilt top.
http://sharonschambernetwork.com/Cla...d-Basting.aspx