Longarm Quilting Services

Preparing Your Quilt for Machine Quilting

​Quilt Top: 

• Make sure your quilt top is squared off and all seams are securely  stitched. 
• Trim all loose threads.
• If borders are not square, they may be uneven and can develop puckers in the quilting process.
• We will do everything we can to  prevent this, but we cannot compensate for the quilt construction and no  amount of quilting will eliminate the rippling caused by the flared  borders.  As  quilt blocks and pieces are assembled, the edges tend to grow. As a  result, edges are often longer than the center of the quilt. If you cut a  border strip of fabric, sew it to an edge, trim it off, and repeat  around the quilt, chances are that the borders will be longer than the  center of the quilt, and you will have "ruffled" borders. Our goal as  piecer and quilter is a flat, square quilt.To avoid ruffled borders,  measure the center of your quilt, cut the first set of border strips to  that length, mark the centers of the strips and the centers of the sides  of the quilt, and pin from the center out to each side, easing in  fullness. If your quilt is large, take three measurements across the  center, average the measurements, and use that number for your border  length. Re-measure and repeat for the second set of borders. If you are making a top with several borders, repeat this technique for each.  

​​Quilt Back: 

• Backing fabric should be at least 4-6" larger all the way around than the quilt top.
• If there are any seams in the backing, make sure that the selvages are removed, threads are trimmed and the back is squared up.
• If it is not, there will be an  additional fee for squaring up the quilt back to properly load it onto  the machine.  This is time consuming and the following charges will  apply.

​Batting:

• Batting must be at least 3" larger than the quilt top.
• Do NOT spray or pin baste your quilt.

Note*: If you're top of backing are directional please mark the top left corner of your top and back with a safety pin.