Quilt Top Finishing Touches

After all the piecing and pressing it's time to put together the quilt sandwich correct?  Not quite.  I like to give my quilt top (and bottom if it's pieced) a little TLC before sandwiching. This ensures the quilt top measurements are accurate, all loose threads and debris are gone and the all seams are pressed down.

The process and tools:

(1) Mark any areas that need to be trimmed with a ruler and non-staining marking pencil or chalk.



(2) Trim off all the marked areas from step (1). I usually use fabric scissors for this step for larger quilts but for smaller projects I use my rotary cutter and mat. Have your ruler handy to make sure all cuts are accurate.



(3) Use little trimming scissors to trim off any access threads. You want to make all the threads are trimmed before quilting because loose threads can get quilted onto the quilt and difficult to trim off later.



(4) Make sure all loose threads are picked off. I use a lint brush for this because thread tends to cling to everything and somehow find itself back on the quilt top if not properly disposed of.



(5) Have your iron board and iron out again for a final pass to make sure all seams are securely pressed down. Having seams flat ensures a nice even quilt top without any weird lumps. It also makes for easier quilting.



After ALL these steps on both the quilt top and quilt bottom, I am now ready for some sandwiching :).

-Q