Just a footnote. There are no fumes really, and this method beats safety pins any day. I was very happy and might consider one day doing a larger quilt this way. What will I do with all those safety pins now? That's the question.

Well, the front looks better. I did it second. The back still looks a a bit ripply. No one is really gonna care except me. I think I read somewhere that somebody washed their flannel twice to get it to shrink as much as possible and I wondered if that would take the stretchiness out a bit. I did try to pat things in to place and it looks much better. I also used more pins to stretch out the batting.

Little flower, I didn't wash anything because I took a fresh start on patting it into place after pinning the batting stretched. Then I ironed it to fuse it down even better. That's what the lady did on Craftsy's quilting big quilts video. I found spots on two of the blocks. Hopefully they will come out with a little washcloth action.

Thank you Rosemary for the patting strategy. It seems to have worked. I saw online that the fusing spray only lasts 2 months on poly batting. I plan on getting this done soon as I'm not quilting it very densely. It should be simple and go fast. Thanks for the help

pretend you are pressing not ironing the fabric!

rippling usually happens when we over stretch the fabric when we're putting the layers together.
separate the layers wash the fabric again then when you put it back down press firmly but don't schmoosh (spread out with your hands)

I can't imagine that your washer gums up. How many cans did you use ? You only need a little to keep the layers together. There is a Craftsy class with Ann Petersen called Quilting Big Projects on a Small Machine, where she shows how to spray baste. I was really surprised of how she treats the fabric after spraying. Folds it together and walk around with it until she is ready to put the layers together. I tried it myself and it works. She irons the quilt before quilting and that works too.

Actually I marked the seam in the flannel back with safety pins so I could line up the center seam in the quilt top so they would line up. So I was doing half of the quilt at a time. That flannel just wants to ripple. I love doing flannel on the back and have done it twice before but I never put starch on the flannel before. Still thinking about washing out the spray baste, though I don't know if that is a good idea. It might gum up my washer. LOL

I cannot imagine that there is much difference to the end result of using sizing instead of starch - not that we get sizing over here.
Sounds as if you had best sleep on it and as Norma suggests just work on 1/2 at a time - perhaps put a line of rulers down to hold the half way mark and work out from there, then back up the other way.

Cheering you on!

Ok, Norma. I will wrestle with it again. Only thing is I am thinking about waiting 'til tomorrow. In another post I was re-reading, it said to use sizing not starch on flannel. Maybe that is part of the problem.

You can separate the layers and put them together again. Fold it in half or quarters so you have control over it and pad it down so you don't stretch the flannel. If you do a little at a time you will succeed. I hope this makes sense to you. Good luck.

this is the flannel back.

It didn't go very well. I don't have a wall to use, so I used a large floor space. I got sticky and fibers from the batting were stuck to me. No problem, but the result isn't smooth enough. I think I needed to use more pins to stretch layers out. I don't know what to do with it. It's all sticky and the flannel looks wrinkled. I am wishing I sent it out to be quilted. Will post a question about flannel backs again. Jan

Thank you Margo and Marilyn. Will check this out. You are amazing Margo.

Here's the link to Patsy's video about spray basting on the wall: [url]learn/classrooms/[/url]