Stiches coming undone...can you pull stitches out and go back over them?

[maxandfigaro]

I am working on my very first quilt, and am almost finished, or so I thought; until I realized that several of my stitches are coming undone because I forgot to back stitch. I should have known better. I need to get this quilt finished ASAP, as it is going to a family as a memorial quilt. I want it to look nice, so my question is---can i remove the unraveling quilted stitches and then restitch over the same line, but make sure to back stitch this time? Since I have already quilted the cover will this be a problem? (I am making this quilt using my machine.)

The example....My quilt block has an "X" in the middle of it. It is unraveling since I didn't back stitch. Can I remove the stitches from the "X" and go back over it? Will this make the quilt look odd or will it hurt the batting since entire blanket has already been quilted? I don't need any more mishaps, but I can't send it with loose stitches.

Thanks for any guidance you can provide. I am definitely learning from my mistakes.

[cyndiofthevortex]

Re: Stiches coming undone...can you pull stitches out and go back over them?

If I understand this correctly, it is your piecing stitches that are coming out and not your quilting stitches. If this is true then here's what I do:

If I find some loose stitching after my quilt has been quilted I try to stitch it closed by hand. Use small whip stitches. Search throughout the whole quilt because if it happened in one place it may have happened in another.

I never backstitch and I know most quilters don't. Make sure you are using new, good quality thread. Throw out anything that's been sitting around for a few decades. Some of us have thread we inherited and want to use, but it isn't worth it. I love Aurifil but others have their favorites. Just like you shouldn't settle for cheap fabric for your precious quilts, don't settle for cheap thread or batting, either.

Use a short stitch when setting your stitch length. This will keep your stitches from pulling out.

[maxandfigaro]

Re: Stiches coming undone...can you pull stitches out and go back over them?

Hi Cyndi, and thanks so much for your post. It is actually the quilting part of the quilt. The pieced quilt top is fine, it's just my quilting that seems to be the issue. The start and stop part of the "X" is what is beginning to unravel. If it gets pulled the entire "X" across the block could come out. The blocks are 10x10 so they are not small.

[bubba]

Re: Stiches coming undone...can you pull stitches out and go back over them?

I also never backstitch, I was taught not to, and boy was that a hard habit to break! I'd try to stitch it closed by hand, or if it is not quilted yet, just run an extra row of stitching over the spot.

[Pattycake]

Re: Stiches coming undone...can you pull stitches out and go back over them?

I've pulled out quilting stitches and restitched them with no problems. If the quilt is washed afterwards, the needle holes from the original stitches won't be visible.

[JCY]

Re: Stiches coming undone...can you pull stitches out and go back over them?

I take it you're using a walking foot, doing straight stitching to quilt across the quilt? I learned that when you start & stop, it helps to set your stitch length to 0 for that first/last few stitches, then it won't come loose. I use stitch length 3 when doing straight quilting. It's also possible the tension needs to be adjusted. Do some practice stitching on a sample sandwich. Check to see how the stitching looks both on the front & back of the sandwich. Good luck. JCY