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  • Oh, dear. It's a mess!

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    Old 03-03-2016, 06:04 AM
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    Default Oh, dear. It's a mess!

    I've finished my quilt top with 3 borders and basted it together. Then I discovered that the borders do not lie flat. They matched up beautifully while sewing them on, but there is no way to "quilt that out!" The corners are mitered, so putting them back together after unsewing and correcting is daunting. The quilt is nearly king sized, so I had no surface large enough to see the extra bulk. I guess the weight of the quilt pulled it flat. Any ideas on correcting those mitered corners now that they have been trimmed?
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    Old 03-03-2016, 06:47 AM
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    If the ripples are not too bad, you can sometimes distribute the extra fabric by quilting a bead board pattern in the border and using a fluffy batt. If you have to remove the border and resew, at least you have extra length in the borders to work with.
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    Old 03-03-2016, 07:31 AM
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    Is there a floor surface that you could lay the whole thing or or at least lay out one side at a time completely? I would be tempted to lay it out, pin or tape it down to the size it is supposed to be, spray the border area with water and let it dry. It may just shrink enough that you can quilt it more easily.
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    Old 03-03-2016, 07:48 AM
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    I had a similar situation but didn't catch it till it was on the frame and almost completely quilted. So I made pleats where it was too full as I couldn't steam out the fullness though I tried. I was able to put the pleats so the quilting pattern would stitch right down the edge and catch it. No one was the wiser unless I showed them.
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    Old 03-03-2016, 08:22 AM
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    I agree with Suz (Snooz). I have had a few come across my rack that there was no way the fullness would quilt out. So with the client's permission, I put in several very strategically placed tucks/pleats and quilted over them. It probably would not pass muster with a show judge but it certainly looked fine to everyone else. My client couldn't find them without me pointing them out. Here, look for yourself. There are two of them in this picture.
    [ATTACH=CONFIG]543903[/ATTACH]
    Attached Thumbnails border-tucks.jpg  
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    Old 03-03-2016, 08:46 AM
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    Pleats hide pretty well - if you keep them straight, they end up just looking almost exactly like ordinary seams.

    Edit - I posted this before seeing Feline Fanatic's picture. That's exactly what I was trying to describe.

    Last edited by Sewnoma; 03-03-2016 at 08:50 AM.
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    Old 03-03-2016, 08:56 AM
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    If you've already unsewn (is that a word?) the mitered corners, would it work to lie one side flat and carefully miter the new corner by hand. I've had to do that before to make bits fit together better.
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    Old 03-03-2016, 09:21 AM
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    Originally Posted by feline fanatic
    I agree with Suz (Snooz). I have had a few come across my rack that there was no way the fullness would quilt out. So with the client's permission, I put in several very strategically placed tucks/pleats and quilted over them. It probably would not pass muster with a show judge but it certainly looked fine to everyone else. My client couldn't find them without me pointing them out. Here, look for yourself. There are two of them in this picture.
    [ATTACH=CONFIG]543903[/ATTACH]
    Great quilting! I, too, have had to do some creative quilting to hide fullness. Small tucks are sometimes necessary and once quilted, you are hard pressed to find them. A little fullness will settle down with no tucks, but a lot of fullness may require little tucks. Good luck!
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    Old 03-03-2016, 09:29 AM
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    Nicely done Feline Fanataic. Did you measure your borders?? You might want to watch EB video on miter borders. I never trimmed my miter borders until I had pinned my queen size quilts. Then I just unpinned the corners and trimmed them when I knew that everything was okay. I would always have one border come out a bit off and having my quilts in competition, I had to fix the problem.
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    Old 03-03-2016, 10:28 AM
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    Is the extra fullness in the miter only or the entire border is wavy? If it's just the miter, the fullness should mean too much fabric there, so up sewing, re mitering should correct...if it's the whole border with scattered waves....I would take out, measure, pin and resew, but that's me....otherwise it would always haunt me.......
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