It is my goal to return to you the best possible quilt you can have! With that in mind, preparing your quilt properly is a must. To ensure your quilt comes to me in quilt-able condition, please ensure the following:
- All quilt top seams should be pressed and any stray threads snipped.
- Take a lint brush to the top and back of the quilt, removing any human hairs, stray pet fibers, etc.
- Backing and batting should have four inches minimum all around. That is an additional 8” larger than your quilt. For example, a 70” x 80” quilt top would need a backing that is 78 x 88” Same with your batting, should you be providing it.
- Any backing seams should be sewn at ½” seam allowance and then pressed open. Please cut off any selvages that are in the seam. You can leave on selvages on the edges.
- You may have multiple pieces for your backing – do try to cut down on as few seams as you can. Please square all sides/corners so that no extra fabric is over the edge. If there is extra fabric, a $15 charge to square the top will be applied.
- Please note that centering a quilt top on a backing perfectly just isn’t possible – I recommend you place any special pieces (like extra blocks or a label) deliberately off-center so that centering isn’t an issue.
- If you have a direction you want your quilt top to be quilted, please mark the top with a pinned note.
- If you have a directional fabric for your backing fabric, please mark the top with a pinned note.
- If your backing is made of flannel (which shrinks tremendously), a sheet (which needs to soften up due to thread count) or batik (which can color run), please wash your backing before the quilting stage. You won’t regret it and neither will I!
Fabrics for Backing
The most common backing material is made of the same type of cotton fabric that your top is. If your top is made primarily made of cotton, then so should the backing be. However, there are some notable exceptions:
- 108″ backing cotton backing fabric is a great choice as it is 100% cotton like your quilt, but there are no seams to have to deal with! It’s also cost effective if you have a larger quilt (twin and above).
- Sheets are often used as an inexpensive backing, but please wash the sheets before bringing as it will loosen the threads up and the longarm won’t have a problem with it. If you don’t pre-wash, the backing will be returned to you until you do.
- Minky is a great backing! It has a one way weft that allows for a minimum of stretching. On a longarm, the slipperiness of the fabric doesn’t matter. Keep in mind that Minky is polyester and therefore doesn’t breath well; something to keep in mind for very small babies that cannot regulate their body temperature yet nor be able to push off the blanket.
- Flannel is my favorite backing for quilts, especially bed or lap quilts. Using flannel adds an additional level of fluffy softness to any quilt.
- Fleece is probably the worst backing to get as it is so stretchy. Since a backing is “stretched” across the frame of a longarm, it is nearly impossible to not stretch it. It can be done, but keep in mind that is more difficult and the results can lead to a bunching of the quilting motifs.
Custom or Heirloom Work
Please, please, please, water test your fabrics before you submit it for quilting! Yes, this includes the backing. If I do some custom or Heirloom work on your quilt, know that it will get marked. I will use an assortment of marking tools, depending on what works best. These tools are generally water soluble blue line pens, air soluble purple pens and chalk. I do not use Frixion pens as they can leave a mark.
If you pre-wash your fabrics, more power to you!
Borders
Of particular note are borders. This is the number one bane of longarm quilters as they are sometimes too large and which cause “waves” and the quilt will not lay flat. This can result in pleats on your borders. If the borders are wavy, the quilt will be returned to you without longarming for you to fix before proceeding.
To measure and cut your borders properly, while the quilt is horizontal, measure across the top, the middle and the bottom of the quilt and then take the average of these measurements for your vertical border size. Sew your vertical borders. Then, turn the quilt vertically and do the same (measuring top, middle and bottom and average the measurements). For more visual information, watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO6lcLl1w-4
Embellishments
Please add any embellishments like beads, buttons and other things that stick up, until after the quilt has been quilted. It is impossible for do an all-over with embellishments and extremely difficult with custom work as well.
If you have a flange on your quilt, then a general all-over is impossible and it will require some extra steps to quilt. Contact me for price.