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tidying up the back of a top before quilting

Dear all,

Quilt police aside, how much do you tidy up (for lack of better phrase) the back of your tops before layering and quilting?

I've finished a top which has a lot of (somewhat) bias edges. There is no issue with stretching, however all those pieces fray like mad on the back. Not like actually fraying to make me nervous about the seam allowance disappearing, but enough that there are little 1/4 - 1/2 inch pieces of thread coming off the edges all over.

The quilt is all bright primary colours (think of all bright kiddies prints of cars, animals, etc) so I don't see the ends showing through to the front. But maybe the are feelable?

Do you guys have any opinion? I'm only asking because I'd like to not spend 2 hours trimming every piece of fabric in that quilt by scissors, but if I need to, I will.

Thanks, Hanne in DK

Reply to
Hanne
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Reply to
Roberta

It is all different kinds, all makes that have done kids novelty fabrics in the last 8 years. I'm not kidding, I used like 50 different fabrics, none of them from the same line (but probably some from the same manufacturer).

I added strips slightly wonky to squares, then trimmed to a square, but again wonky. It is these wonky cuts on the outside of each block that are fraying. I don't have sewing-thread ends at all (strip piecing), and for this quilt only rotary cut. But the top did travel during all stages of completion, so that might not have helped.

Thanks for helping me let go of the compulsion to be perfect (which was already tempered with the need to finish before the big event). I'll trim the black ones next to the yellow, though :-)

Hanne > I don't do much tidying on the back, but I'm pretty tidy in the

Reply to
Hanne

On Wed, 20 Oct 2010 10:47:33 -0500, Hanne wrote (in article ):

Almost none unless I think it will show through the top. I figure the fraying will be locked in once I finish quilting and binding.

Maureen

Reply to
Maureen Wozniak

Hi Hanne -- I can't tell you how to tidy up the threads, but I can tell you how NOT to. I got the bright idea to use embroidery scissors to clip threads, then pick them up with a lint roller. The lint roller just makes bigtime ravelling, so I chucked it right away. Unfortunately I kept clipping, got careless and cut a hole right in the fabric. Duh. I don't bother with it anymore. Can't tell the difference in the finished quilt. Good luck! Sherry

Reply to
Sherry

Oh, Sherry, that's terrible! I normally use a piece of scrap batting to pick up bits. It may leave a bit of cotton fluff behind, but then this is right before I layer the quilt anyway.

Hanne in DK

Reply to
Hanne

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