Why "Squaring" and "Pressing" is so Important
Hey Quilters,
I wanted to take a few minutes to chat about something that I feel like gets missed a lot during the finishing stages of quilt making: Squaring & Pressing.
Let me clarify - “Squaring” is referring to the squaring of your backing fabric to make sure that it can be properly loaded onto a quilt frame. “Pressing” refers to not just pressing your seams while you’re piecing the quilt, but giving your quilt top & backing a good press after you have finished them.
Both of these are especially important if you have pieced your quilt backing.
It seems that there is some notion (hah get it!) out there that Longarm Quilters can work miracles! Somehow folks think that we can take wonky, wavy bordered, ran-out-of-bobbin-and-didn’t-fix-it quilts and turn them into beautiful masterpieces without any extra work or effort on our part. As much as I would love to boast that those things are true, THEY ARE NOT!
One of the most discouraging things to a Longarmer is to open a client project and find that your quilt back has a million and one pieces - why you ask? Because that means it has a million and one seams - which means - it has stretch and tension going a million and one directions! Catch my drift?
Even if you properly Squared your backing and pressed the heck out of it - something with that many pieces may never lay flat so it’s going to be a beast to get straight on the frame. Not to mention, even if you think you’ve gotten it pretty good - there will always come a “saggy part”. Yep, It is as bad as it sounds! You don’t want them on your body, and you don’t want them in your quilt back!
Here is what happens if you “use-up-all-your-scraps-for-a-back”:
It looks innocent enough - and hey, bonus quilt on the back with all those fabrics right?! Well… this is what happens when you roll up the backing onto a quilt frame with so many pieced sections.
There is only so much your longarmer can do to solve this problem. Be kind to them and either pick one direction for your seams or be like us lazy folks and buy extra-wide so you can skip the piecing all together!
The other problem created by this is that even if your quilter can get it more even, your quilt will still sag on the frame at times - which creates an issue with the quilting.
If you look toward the middle of the quilt above - you can see that there is some sag in the middle. This is because as you quilt and advance the poles are determining the tension not the seams. So..all those vertical seams are now pulled tight, where your horizontal seams are not - your quilt back is being pulled in all directions now and can’t get itself straightened out.
What happens as we quilt along then is that the areas where your quilt sags, the quilting becomes closer together. Even if your quilter is using a Digital system, the quilt has factors that the computer cannot control; the quilting becomes closer together as it pulls the backing up during the quilting process.
OMG does that mean disaster is coming? No, not really… but it does mean that your quilting won't be as consistent, and the issue could compound the further along the quilting goes. You can see how this would become an increasingly frustrating situation for the longarmer trying to do their best work on your quilt you so lovingly spent hours on hours making.
This issue of sagging also shows up when you have not properly “Squared” your backing fabric. If the edge of your backing that gets loaded to the rails of the longarm aren’t straight, you will get backing that looks like the picture above. So, how do we fix this?
There are a couple of ways actually:
Tear your backing to size. Typically when you tear a quilting cotton, it will tear on the straight of grain, which will give you a straight edge. To do this, make a small snip into the fabric, just deeper than the selvage and then RIP! (It will also feel really good if you have any lingering tension!)
*You will want to check with your longarmer specifically on if they prefer this or not.
Check out this tutorial from Sometimes Crafter on how to cut your backing straight - http://sometimescrafter.com/quilting/quilt-prep/ (Here is us for us visual learners, below!)
It seems like something so simple wouldn’t make that much difference, but let me tell you - square your quilt back and you’ll be your longarmers new favorite customer! :)
OK, let talk about “Pressing” - I will be the first to admit that I am a LAZY piecer, a self-proclaimed non-precision piecer as a matter-of-fact! :P There isn’t much I like less than having to Square blocks.. UGH! BUT - when it comes to your quilt being ready for a the quilter - follow Nike’s advice and “Just Do It”!
It might not seem like a big deal if you don’t quite get that seam pressed all the way over …
But, this is what happens when it gets quilted over…
The problem then becomes that you have small areas that looks like tucks due to the extra fabric that didn’t get pressed all the way over. This is a huge bummer for your quilter, because now they feel like this is a reflection on their work - don’t make your quilter feel bad.. press your quilt! Double check those seams and make sure things are laying nice and flat - allow your quilter to focus on what they’re good at, quilting. Don’t stress them out with wonky seams! And If you have a few of these show up in your quilt - take comfort in the fact that the first time you wash your quilt - those will likely disappear!
Hopefully this gives you some insight on why your longarmer may be asking you to do certain things to prep your quilt before you deliver it! A few simple things can really take your quilt to the next level!
Happy Quilting!
Enjoli :)
The Disclaimer:
Ok, so I know things get missed, and we all aren’t always on our game and honestly some of us (me) don’t always want to square blocks - but what we put into our quilts can really show when it comes to the quilting. I know longarmers as a group tend to take on the responsibility for the whole when quilting your quilt. Please understand, we are not miracle workers - if you leave holes in your seams, you’ll likely have holes in your finished quilt. Sometimes we catch things, sometimes we don’t. The way to make a really great quilt though is for the quilter and longarmer to work together - then AMAZING things happen!