Ask Alex: Quilt Blocking

1. Begin with a wet quilt. Either wet your quilt in the washer in cold water on the delicate cycle and then run it through the spin cycle. Or, for more fragile quilts, wet the quilt with a spray bottle (figure A) and then run it through the spin cycle to avoid agitating the quilt.

2. Smooth the damp quilt out on the carpet and pull it square.

3. Align the corners using a square ruler to attain crisp 90-degree corners (figure B).

4. Secure the quilt by sticking office T-pins through the quilt and into the carpet (figure C) about every two inches.

5. Allow the quilt to dry overnight with the T-pins intact.

6. Prevent kids and pets from entering the room until the quilt dries.