Aaaarrrrgh!

{{{{hugs}}}}

Karen, Queen of Squishies

That's horrible! And there apparently is no easy way to fix it. How sad, how infuriating, how disheartening! And no matter how careful you are, those things happen, almost as surely as an open-face peanut butter sandwich lands peanut butter side down on the floor. My sympathies to you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As to avoiding the mess, I remember an elderly friend who after many, many quilts said she figured out a way to avoid it most times, and and she decided that most of the time was better than nothing . . . . Anyhow, she kept an old yard stick on hand that was actually 4' long (does that make it a 1 1/3 yard stick? is there a name for a 4' yard stick???). When she was finished laying out the sandwich and pinning it from the center out to the edges, she very carefully put the yardstick under the edge, inched it toward the center, and then moved it side to side, and "felt" for any resistance. Then she kept going all around the quilt checking for any area that "felt" different from her end of the yard stick. Only then would she begin basting, and she used giant stitches -- about 8" -- from the center out to the edges, and then a smaller stitch -- about 4" -- around the edges. When that was finished she very loosely rolled the quilt, unrolled it showing the backing side up, and if all was good she re-rolled, unrolled with the front side up, did the yardstick probing one more time, and only then did her regular basting. The pins came out only when the regular basting was in progress.

I have other friends who go to their churches, shove tables together in the community or all-purpose rooms, get out the masking tape, and literally tape the backing to the table tops as the first step in making their sandwiches. They say it makes a huge difference for them in avoiding shifting fabric, and gets the sandwich up to a comfortable height to pin and then baste. Since the entire process takes the better part of the day, they call the church office to choose a time when nobody wants to use or move the tables.

I have decided that for my next large quilt, I will make the sandwich upside down, so that the backing is what shows. My theory is that a pieced top has a better chance of staying put, as will the batting since it "sticks" to all the piecing seams, but that the lighter weight backing is what is most likely to shift. And I always hope no friend ever stops by to laugh while I'm doing a sandwich on the floor, but when I get the sandwich laid out, before I add any pins I open a new case of soda pop in cans and use them as weights, which I believe (but cannot prove) helps hold everything in place while I do the initial pinning.

gosh Maureen. Perhaps you'd like me to finish the quilt for you?

Musicmaker

I know how you feel. I have had that happen. Now I take it to when our quilt group meets every week, and we put tables together, tape it down, and then everyone helps pin or hand baste it. I also use spray basting a lot. I hope the day goes better for you.

Sherry Starr

.......a batik quilt?............. you are TOO eager!

Karen, Queen of Squishies

Oh, Maureen, how frustrating! Can you unpin just half of the quilt and redo that half after smoothing out the pleat?

Bums!

((((((Maureen W & Fingers!))))))

You poor baby. Bless your heart, I'm just so sorry. Gentle hugs and very sincere sympathy. Polly

Oh bummer!!! and I guessing that saying "damn" just wasn't strong enough, ay. I'd come right over and help you re-pin it if I could and we'd have fun doing it :o)) Wendy in Nsw

So sorry, Maureen! BTDT. The last quilt I pinned had to be unpinned and repinned a couple of times before it was satisfactory.

You need one of those pin closer thingys. It'll save your fingers at least!!

On Tue, 4 Sep 2007 09:04:00 -0500, Karen, Queen of Squishies wrote (in article ):

Thanks. I started unpinning this morning. And I'm hoping I can bribe a friend or two into helping me repin this weekend.

Maureen

On Tue, 4 Sep 2007 09:07:33 -0500, Mary wrote (in article ):

I like the yardstick trick. I'll have to try it next time.

Maureen

On Tue, 4 Sep 2007 09:20:38 -0500, Musicmaker wrote (in article ):

Why do I get the feeling I wouldn't see it again. :-)

Maureen

On Tue, 4 Sep 2007 13:04:16 -0500, Sandy wrote (in article ):

Dave asked the same thing. So I may give that a try first before I unpin the whole thing.

Maureen

On Tue, 4 Sep 2007 14:33:11 -0500, Kate XXXXXX wrote (in article ):

Thanks!

Maureen

On Tue, 4 Sep 2007 14:53:50 -0500, Polly Esther wrote (in article ):

Thanks Polly. I've started unpinning. Maybe I'll even get a stitch or two in by the end of the coming weekend.

Maureen

On Tue, 4 Sep 2007 15:54:49 -0500, Taria wrote (in article ):

Thanks.

Maureen