Nreina128 wrote:
Nikki, I don't think it matters much, but I usually use Sta-Flo liquid starch (look for the blue bottle) and mix it 1/2 and 1/2 with water in a spray bottle. It can be hard to find (because not many people starch their laundry any more?) but I can often find it at the Dollar General Store or at Wal-Mart, with the laundry products and it's usually up on a high shelf, or down by the floor!!

there have been some other threads about starch, some recipes for making your own, but I'm now using Sta-Flo which you add to water in your own spray bottle, instead of pre-mixed sprays, mostly b/c I was going thru cans so fast, this lasts me longer! I had trouble finding it, just kept on the lookout at every grocery store I was in.
I think once you start using starch & see how much it helps it's hard not to use it again and again and again, so quantity matters
JMHO
Florence

Handle with care I know this for a fact, if u are using scraps or not....HANDLE with care!!! Your fabric will give a little...or take a little...u never know. Use Ricky's block method at the end and ur quilt will turn out greate!!!!

You might also be stretching the blocks as you press them. Make sure you lift the iron, bring it down on a spot, then lift it again and move it to the next spot. Don't move the iron back and forth on the fabric.

Ask me how I know this!

Anne in Vancouver, Canada, who finally wised up

And next time, just be a little more aware of where in the block you want the straight grain when using scraps.

We've ALL done it as least once, believe me!

Another tip - use some form of a stilletto so that you're not pulling on the blocks as they're headed under the needle. That little bit of pulling will distort the blocks.

Thanks Betty....

Do you have a starch you recommend ?or is any old grocery starch good?

If you are using scraps and are not sure of grain line. you will get the wobbles. Try starching your scraps. The weave will be more stable and less likely to stretch. Betty Ann

Thanks Florence. I was using scraps.

Do you know if your blocks were cut on the straight of grain? (ie, threads going parallel & perpendicular to the edges of the squares?) If they were cut out of scraps they may have bias edges, which stretch if you pull on them or don't handle them very carefully.
I'm sure there's other ideas out there, but that's mine...
Florence

HI -

I need some help. I was piecing together some smallish blocks 5" and I noticed the edges came out very wavy. Does anyone have any idea why this would occur or how I can prevent it in the future?

Thanks,
Nikki