Quilt Preparation

There are a few things which you can do to prepare your quilt for quilting on the longarm machine. This makes life easier for the operator of the machine and can also save you money too, depending on whether the quilter charges for "Preparation Time' prior to the quilt being loaded onto the rollers.

1.   Ensure that your backing is big enough - I recommend that your backing is 4 inches ( 10cm ) bigger around all sides of the quilt top, this ensures that the backing can be attached to the canvas leaders with ease and there will be enough backing when the quilting gets to the end of the quilt top.

2.   Make sure your backing is square and sits flat - No puckers if you have joined the pieces. The sides should be straight and the selvedges have been cut off

3.   Ensure the your wadding is large enough, for the same reasons as above  (1.)  if you have to join the wadding together just butt the edges together and a large zigzag stitch to join together.

Do Not Over Lap. This ensures a flat surface which will not be felt or seen through the quilting.

4. Time is money, most longarm quilters are very busy people - Please ensure you have ironed the backing fabric and the quilt itself. This will save us time and you save money, most will charge you for this service

5. Please do not baste or pin your quilt together before sending it in to be quilted,  as it gets loaded onto the rollers individually with the wadding in between.

6. Please do not sew buttons or ribbons on to the quilt top before the quilt had been quilted,  as we could quite easily run over these and put the timing out on our machines. Then we won't be happy quilters any more :(

7. Think about what type of quilting you would like on your quilt top, What type of things do you or the recipient like, eg hearts, leaves, swirls. Is it a gift for anyone? How much money do you want to spend, because the more thinking the quilter has to do and the more intricate design, the more the quilting will cost.

These are just a few suggestions for preparing your quilt top.

If you have any questions you are welcome to contact me.

Contact Joy at By Joy It's Quilted