I need a midwife

Naaah. You don't need a midwife, you just need a friend. Actually, a stranger or an enemy might do just fine. Get someone to do some gentle tugging with you. Pull the quilt at diagonal corners; then the other two. Pull against each other from the top and bottom centers; then the sides. That always works pretty well for me. Then you just smooth it out to distribute the extra fullness. Polly

Polly, do you use a walking foot when sewing the quilt sandwich together? That's how I do it & so far (knocking on wood) I don't have problems.

Nana HTH

No. I don't need the walking foot but I have a hundred or so years sewing experience, pin lots, show no mercy and take no hostages. I see that Taria has a different layout than I do. I put the batting down first, then the backing 'face up' and the quilt top 'face down'. Is that what I do? It doesn't sound right but I think it is. Having the two cotton fabrics facing each other on top of the batting, I've always been able to get all of them to behave with no slipping. My neat trick with pinning goes this way - to begin, I put two pins in an "x" shape, move over a decent space to give a comfortable opening for turning, and make another "x". This tells me to start stitching at the "x" and carry on to the last one. (You only have to sew up your opening one time to appreciate having a reminder.) HTH Polly

"nana wilson" wrote > Polly, do you use a walking foot when sewing the quilt sandwich together?

Get out your little sleeve board and slip it inside the assembly before turning RSO. Press the seam allowances open and as flat as you can. Use steam. Trim off the corners to reduce bulk. Then turn RSO. Another point: where do you put the batting? If you layer it against the backing, the added bulk on that side of the seam is probably causing a lot of the bulge. Layer it with the top instead. Roberta in D

"Karen, Queen of Squishies" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:26rSj.145371$yE1.65864@attbi_s21...

I watched a Saturday morning PBS quilting show that had a segment about birthing quilts, maybe Fons & Porter. They put the batting to the top when layering AND they rounded the corners. After it was sandwiched they laid a small plate on each corner to mark a line for a gently rounded curve. I tried it, works like a charm! Everything smooth and even, and I really liked the look of the softly rounded corners. When you lay the plate down to draw the pattern, mark where it hits the edges of the fabric, line this up with the next three corners and they will all be even. Oh, and the said to give the corners a few clips before turning. I clip little wedges out to relieve some of the bulk.

I've done this rounding the corner technique before hemming napkins and table clothes, too. It gives a really nice finished edge

Val

Howdy!

After seeing her demo this several years ago, here's a post from 2005:

in the middle of the back of the quilt; takes up any extra fabric in that closing seam and

Or, in my case, handquilting. ;-)

What a fabulous idea! The unevenness is what has prevented me from using this very useful method. I might just try this. It sounds so feasible. I bet I can still mess it up - at least the first time >g< . In message , Sandy Ellison writes

Me too, Pat! But let's have ago at it, shall we? LOL Thanks, Ms.Mop.

Karen, Queen of Squishies

Hmm, I like the sounds of that. Thanks!

Karen, Queen of Squishies

Right! I'll have to wait until I make my next quilt - which could be a while; I'm still plugging away with two that *must* be finished by dates not that far ahead!! After those, I plan to experiment anyway, so that'll be another thing to try. I'll try to remember to let you know! . In message , "Karen, Queen of Squishies" writes

I've done this with table runners and place mats. Works great and looks good!

Donna in SW Idaho