A quilt that hangs with rippling edges or a puckered surface has a simple cause: one layer is longer than the other. Every seam gains or loses a little, and the errors add up. Fabric can be eased, stretched and pressed to some degree, but the real solution is to measure and cut so the layers are the same length from the start.
Borders that ripple
A border ripples when its edge is longer than the top it is attached to. Two causes are common.
- The border was cut first. Strips cut to the pattern length, for example 72.5 inches, are compared with a quilt top that has stretched to 73.5 because of bias edges and pressing. The border is shorter and pulls the edge in, or the reverse.
- Measured at the edge. The edges of a pieced top stretch from handling and sewing, so they are longer than the centre. A border cut to the edge length will be too long and ripple.
Measure through the middle
Measure the length of the top through the centre and at each side, and then average the three. Cut the border strips to that length. Mark the midpoints of the border and the quilt top, pin them together at the midpoints, at the ends, and at the quarter points, and ease the quilt top to fit the border, sewing with the top piece facing up so the feed dogs do not stretch it. The average measure through the middle is the most reliable, and the result is a quilt that measures the same along all edges.
Repeat for the top and bottom borders, measuring the width after the side borders are on.
Pieced borders
If the border is pieced, such as a row of half-square triangles or a flying geese strip, the lengths come out a little different from planned. Measure the quilt and compare to the border. If the border is longer by less than half an inch, ease. If it is short, increase the seam allowances slightly in some of the joins, or add a plain spacer strip to make up the difference.
Puckers inside blocks
Small tucks in a seam occur when the two pieces are not the same length, or when one piece was pulled. To reduce them:
- Sew with the smaller piece on top. The bottom piece is eased by the feed dogs.
- Use a consistent, shorter stitch length of about 2 millimetres, which keeps the seam from ruffling.
- Do not stretch the fabric as it goes under the needle. Guide it lightly.
- Cut on the grain. Pieces with bias edges stretch, so handle them gently and use starch to stabilise the cut pieces before sewing.
- Press gently rather than sliding the iron.
Quilting puckers
Puckers also show up when the top is quilted, where the back is tucked in folds under the stitching. Causes are loose basting, a top that is larger than the batting and backing, or quilting from the outside in. To prevent them:
- Smooth the backing taut on a hard floor with tape, then layer the batting and top.
- Baste with pins every 4 to 6 inches, or with a temporary spray or long stitches.
- Start quilting from the centre and work outward, in lines that radiate like the spokes of a wheel, so any extra fabric is pushed to the edge.
- Use a walking foot or a free-motion foot and keep the quilt supported so it does not hang.
Quilt that hangs with a dip
If the quilt has a slight dip in the middle, it was quilted more densely in some areas than others. Dense quilting draws up the quilt, so the dense areas shrink. Fix it by quilting evenly over the top, using a similar density of stitching everywhere.
Blocking a finished top
For a top that is out of square by less than an inch, wet blocking can help. Spray the top with water, pin to a padded board at the correct measurements and let dry. Stay stitching the edges a scant eighth of an inch from the edge stops them from stretching while you add borders.
Trimming
Before binding, trim the quilt to a true rectangle. Measure from corner to corner diagonally; if the two diagonals match, the quilt is square. A small difference can be trimmed, which makes the quilt a little smaller but straight.
Planning to avoid it
Decide the finished size early, and cut borders after you have a finished top, from actual measurements. The quilt size database lists standard dimensions, and the yardage calculator gives the fabric needed, but it is always wise to add extra in case the top is larger than planned and the border strips must be cut longer.