Mcask

Has anyone ever re-basted their quilt sandwich once you’ve already done some of the quilting ??? I am l making a super simple big stripe quilt (with flannel backing which I’ve never used as backing before), and doing just straight line quilting echoing off of the seams. I’ve done a few rows and I’m worried about stretching of the fabric and whether or not I should take the rest of my safety pins out and smooth everything down again before I continue? This is probably a silly question lol. I pinned liberally. Should I just trust it and keep going? Or should I take the pins out to make sure it’s as flat as it can be?

Tartan

I would smooth and repin if I had movement however if you changed the direction you sew every other row, it might help.

Mitty

If it looks like it has stretched and no longer laying flat, then yes, I would re-baste, but otherwise I would just keep going, checking occasionally to make sure everything's still looking good.

In general I haven't had problems with the fabric bunching/stretching as long as everything is flat and smooth in the beginning Except when using flannel. With flannel, even when I've had in tons of pins it sometimes bunched up at the seams. I unstitched (which was a huge pain because it was ditched) and redid the seams that had bunched, and then I went really slowly and held the fabric taut any time I was at an "intersection."

You might consider using Elmer's washable (repeat: washable) school glue if you do need to rebaste. Just use tiny, tiny drops, but you can have many more tiny drops of glue than you would ever have pins, so the whole thing is more secure.

toverly

Yes, especially when I am free motion. I start in the center and work out about a quarter of the quilt at a time. I frequently work waves out to the ends to keep from stitching them in.

Jingle

I would if I had bunching. I put a lot of large safety pins in my quilts so I don't have to redo it.

Mcask

Thanks! I’ve never tried the glue before but I keep that one in mind for next time. For whatever reason I struggled with the flannel backing but it did turn out better than I expected in the end after only a few ripped out seams.