PREPARING YOUR QUILT FOR THE LONGARM
You’ve just spent a lot of time, energy and love piecing and sewing your quilt top! My service is to bring that quilt top to life with my hand guided longarm quilting. I sew by free motion and rulers on my HandiQuilter Forte longarm quilting machine. I do not use computers or pantographs to quilt. Variations in designs are the product of artistic expression and creative design choices. It’s important to me to work closely with my clients to ensure their vision for a finished quilt is special & unique! No two quilts are alike!
Your quilt top/back/batting should be square, pressed and lay flat. Loose threads should be trimmed off. Do Not Layer your quilt. Quilt tops and backings that are not square and pressed can cause tucks and puckering when quilting.
Use 1/2-inch seam allowance for backings and press seams open.
Remove all selvedge edges on backing seams.
Backing seams should run parallel to the way the quilt will be loaded on the rollers if possible. It is better to have the seams parallel to the roller bar to avoid a bump or build up of fabric when the backing is rolled onto the roller.
The batting and backing of tops to be quilted (or to be basted for hand quilting) need to be at least a total of 8”-12” larger in length and in width (4”-6” on each side) Example: A quilt top of 64 x 90 should have backing/batting that measure 72 x 98 inches. The larger the backing the better for loading to the machine.
If you have pieced borders or pieced blocks up to the edges of your quilt you must stabilize the edges with stay stitching 1/8” to 1/4” from the edge prior to quilting.
Borders should be measured and applied to the quilt top based on the measurement…not applied and trimmed to fit. Borders can easily stretch when sewn to the quilt top and stretched borders = tucks and puckers! :-(
Scalloped borders should be cut after quilting is completed.
The quilt top should be free of embellishments, such as buttons, charms, pins, etc. Please keep in mind with longarm quilting, stitches will be sewn over all appliqués/embroidery unless specific requests are made NOT to do so in advance.
I use only thread I supply that is designed for machine quilting and works with my longarm; you choose the color or color family, i.e. hot pink or pink family. You may also elect to allow “quilters choice” and I will decide on your behalf.
I can provide Quilters Dream cotton, Hobbs 80/20 or Hobbs wool batting (extra charge for batting) or you may provide your own. Remember, the quality of the backing and batting are just as important as the quilt top fabrics.
For backings I recommend 100% quilters cotton, high quality flannel and do not accept sheets, heavy or tightly woven fabrics. I cannot guarantee that I will be able to work with other fabrics. I can accept minky or fleece, but do not recommend it for larger than lap size quilts - nothing wider than 78”. Minky & fleece should not be pieced for the backing. If your backing is directional, please pin a note to the top edge to indicate it. NOTE: I can only worry about quilting the TOP side of the quilt. Matching up patterns on the backing is NOT possible.
Be specific as to what you want for a quilting design, but remember I do not use computers or pantographs. This is hand guided custom quilting. I will do my best to sew a design based on your request.
If you need to have the quilt done by a certain date, please be sure to let me know. If I cannot accommodate your deadline I will inform you up front.
All quilts will be returned untrimmed. If you request me to return your quilt trimmed there is an extra charge.
Shipping
Shipping costs & insurance to return quilts will be billed at cost and method will be agreed upon before shipping.
Shipping your materials to me is at your own cost.
Please ship with a method that has tracking #’s and forward to me as soon as available. I will confirm receipt when the items arrive.
You will receive my address as soon as your commission is confirmed and after the core deposit is received. Deposits and final payments can be made to me by Venmo, Zelle, Cash or Check.