Trust me, no quilt top is perfect, but with the tips listed below, your quilt will be a lot easier to handle for any longarmer (and therefore the quilting will be cheaper for you):
- Check that your quilt lays flat, the more pressing the better the result. (don’t iron your top, just press it). Your longarmer will give your top a quick press, to remove the creases from transport, but the better you press it at home, the better the results.
- Also check that your borders aren’t wonky or wavy. Some of that wonkiness can be quilted away, but we are not magicians, so if there is a lot of extra fabric, it will show after quilting. There are a lot of videos online that will show you how to put on your border in the right way.
- Square your quilt (although, if your borders are on right, you shouldn’t have to!). This will not only make the quilting easier, but once it’s done you only have to add the binding and then your quilt is finished! We do not square your quilt before or after quilting, unless specifically asked.
- If possible, sew around the outside of your quilt (called ‘stay stitching’) preferably a little less than 1/4 inch away from the edge. This serves several purposes. First, it prevents excessive fraying. Second, it prevents seams from popping when the top is stretched over the rollers of the longarm frame, and third, it helps prevent overstretching when mounting the top to the machine.
- Measure your quilt, as this is directly relevant to the price of longarm quilting, and it will also tell you how much backing you will need.
- Cut off the loose/long threads at the back of your top. Pay special attention to the dark threads, since they tend to be visible if they end up behind a lighter part of your quilt. Finding and cutting the threads is very time consuming, and a great money saver if you do it yourself.
- Prepare the backing. After measuring your quilt, you’ll know how big the backing needs to be. Add a minimum of 8 inches to the horizontal and vertical measurements.
- To avoid errors, please mark both your top and your backing in the top left corner (if you were holding up your quilt).