Preparing Your Quilt

 

- Make sure your quilt top is as square as possible and even on all four sides. (This makes sure the quilt loads onto the longarm straight as this is very important for keeping the quilting design square the entire length of the quilt during the quilting process.)

- Press all seams and clip all threads. (Stray threads and other things on the quilt like pet hair can show through.)

- Mark the top of the quilt.

- We recommend stay stitching a ¼” seam around the edges of the quilt top. 

- Quilt backs should also be as square as possible.

- If your backing is pieced be sure the seams are pressed open. Remove any selvage edges. (Selvage edges don’t stretch the same as fabric before sewing the seams.)

- If backing fabric is extra wide fabric you should leave the selvage edges on and simply press out wrinkles.

-Quilt backs need to be 4” to 5” (preferably 5“) longer on all 4 sides than the quilt top itself. So if your quilt top measures 70” X 80” your quilt back should measure at least 80” X 90”. This is so that it can be attached to the longarm frame.

-Batting will also need to be 4” to 5” longer on all 4 sides.

-After critically examining your quilt, discuss any possible problems you see with us, realizing that some things simply cannot be “quilted out”. Excessively wavy borders, multiple fabric types and bias edges (which can easily stretch) can all lead to problems during the quilting process.