.Work in Progress on My Long Arm Machine

 

Quilt Preparation

These steps will assist in preparing your quilt for quilting on a longarm machine:

  1. Attach quilt borders correctly - an ill-fitting border, either too long or too short, will probably cause tucks or puckering during the quilting process and you may be left with an uneven, bumpy quilt or one with wavy edges.
    Download: PDF Instructions for Attaching Borders (44KB)
  2. Ensure your quilt is as flat and square as possible - a better result will be achieded if the "press as you go" piecing technique is used and effort is made to limit the amount of "flipped" seam allowances. When the quilt design excludes borders please ensure all seams are secured with a backstitch at the edge of your quilt top or run a stay stitching around the outside edge. Remove any frayed threads which may be visible through from the front or back of the quilted quilt. Use either a 1/2" opened seam allowance or 1/4" pressed to one side if the backing is to be pieced. Ensure prepared backing is square - that is, parallel sides and right angle corners.
  3. Ensure that your backing is big enough - I recommend that your backing is at least 4 inches larger on all sides as the quilt top. This is because the quilt layers are pinned onto long rollers, and held with clamps at the sides.
  4. Consider your quilting design - You will need to choose if you want an edge to edge quilting design, or if you want your quilt custom quilted to your individual specifications. Which option you choose will depend on the design and style of your quilt, the effect you want to achieve, and your budget. Custom designs can be as elaborate or as simple as you require. Generally edge to edge designs are less expensive that custom designs.
  5. Choose your thread colour - thread colour can be chosen to blend in with the colour of the quilt top, or to give strong contrast. I have a wide range of thread colours for you to choose from.