Preparing Your Quilt for Longarm Quilting

If you are planning to have your quilt quilted by someone with a longarm quilting machine, learn how to properly prepare the quilt before giving it to them.

As a professional longarm quilter, ZJ Humbach teaches you several great tips and techniques that can help out your quilter and ensure you get the end results you both want.

Quilt Preparation and Longarm Quilting

When it comes to longarm quilting, the quilter can provide the backing fabric and batting, or the person who made the quilt top can. It is important to know ahead of time whether that is something you need to provide with your quilt top before you give it to the quilter. If you are unsure what type of batting to use, your quilter should be able to explain some of the different types of batting available.

Before giving your quilt to the quilter, you should also have an idea of what type of quilting you want to be done. There are many different types of quilting, including straight-line quilting, custom quilting, all-over quilting, and McTavishing free-motion quilting techniques. All of these different types of quilting can range in price, so that can be a determining factor in your longarm quilting choice.

After discussing some of the items needed when it comes to quilting a quilt top, like the batting, backing fabric, thread, and quilt design, ZJ talks about some of the preparation needed on the quilt top. This includes the importance of pressing seams. While a longarm quilter can always re-press seams as needed, this takes extra time and ultimately adds to the cost of having your quilt quilted.

Another tip ZJ shares for preparing your quilt top is to ensure that the seams along the edges of the quilt have either been secured with a backstitch or have been basted. This helps to ensure a square quilt overall.