Preparing Your Quilt for Quilting
Measure
Measure your quilt across the top, bottom and center, both length and width. All measurements should be the same to ensure puckers do not occur in the quilting process. Borders that do not lay flat will most likely cause tucks, pleats or fullness. We will do our best to quilt in any fullness but cannot guarantee results.
We use the quilt length and width to determine the cost of quilting, and you need these measurements to prepare the correct sized backing and batting. Backing and batting need to be at least 4” wider on all sides than the quilt top, e.g., if your top is 60”x80” your backing and batting should be at least 68”x88”.
If back and/or batting are not the right size, we can either send back to you to add yardage, you can send another, correctly sized item (we will return the original incorrect sized item – you pay postage), or we can add yardage as needed. Additional fees apply to add additional yardage to make the backing large enough to load.
Remove
Remove all pins, buttons, charms, sequins, couching, and any other embellishments from your Quilt Top. The sewing foot on the longarm quilting machine only has the clearance of a nickel. That’s not much room between the fabric and the sewing foot.
Stitch
Trim all loose threads on the top and the underside of your quilt top. This is especially important if your top is a combination of dark and light fabrics. Dark threads are notorious for wandering into the lighter/white fabric and making sure everyone can see them. Make sure your quilt top and backing are as square as possible. Fold the top/backing in half and half again to see how the corners line up. They should be close.
Trim
If your Quilt top does not have an outside border, we highly recommend that you “stay stitch” slightly less than ¼” around the edge of the entire quilt to ensure the seams do not pull apart. This stitching will be hidden once the binding is attached to the quilt. We do baste the top to the batting and backing around the outside edge before quilting but use a wide stitch that is not intended to keep pieced seams together.
Press
Press everything well, especially the seams; use starch if desired/needed. The top needs to lay as flat as possible with no wrinkles. If the top is severely wrinkled when we get it, we will press it so that it will quilt nicely, and there will be an extra charge for this service. Wrinkles can result in tucks and puckering when quilting. We will not press the backing; it will get loaded as received. We are not responsible for the direction of the seams when quilting.
Up
If there is a specific upper edge for the top and/or backing, please indicate this with a little note pinned to the quilt and/or backing. If you have a seamed backing it is better to make the seam(s) run horizontal rather than vertical, if possible. This places the seam(s) in-line with the longarm frame rollers and provides the best condition for quilting. We love seeing the creativity with pieced backs but cannot guarantee placement results; we have had pretty good luck and will do our best to get them in the placed per request.
Keep in mind there is some shrinkage from the quilting. My experience and many other websites estimate quilting shrinkage to be 1” – 3” inches. This depends on the density of the quilting and the size of the quilt. Denser quilting and larger quilts create more overall shrinkage.
I love what I do, and every single quilt I have ever worked on has had meaning for me. I want to make sure you get exactly what you want, your quilt gets here and is returned safely, and you are satisfied with the results. I am available by text, email, and phone if you have any questions.