Working with a longarm quilter

Ask your quilter first

Every longarm quilter has their own requirements, and many write them down. Ask for them before you buy the backing: how much bigger it must be, whether they supply batting, how they want it delivered. What follows is the common practice, and the shops we quote don’t all agree.

How big a backing

The quilter needs spare backing around the edges to hold it on the frame, so it has to be bigger than the top on every side. The shops we read ask for 4″ to 6″ more on each side: Cotton Cuts asks for 4″ on all four sides; Gather Here for 8″ to 12″ wider and longer, which is 4″ to 6″ each side; Stitched in Color says most quilters want 8″ to 10″ larger in width and height.

For a 60″ × 72″ throw, that’s:

A bigger margin costs ¼ yd more here. If in doubt, the bigger margin is the safe choice. For any size, see the quilt backing calculator.

A pieced backing

• Trim off the selvages before you join the widths. Gather Here and Cotton Cuts both ask for this: Gather Here says a selvage doesn’t stretch like the rest of the fabric, and can pucker the seam.
• Sew the seams ½″ and press them open, as Gather Here and Cotton Cuts ask, so they lie flat on the rollers.
• Square it up: cut the backing’s edges straight and its corners square, so it loads evenly.
• Mark the top of the backing with a pin, if it has a direction.

Preparing the top

• Press it well, with the seams flat and lying the way you want them. Seams that flip get quilted down the wrong way.
• Clip every loose thread, front and back. Dark threads show through light fabric once it’s quilted.
• Check the seams, especially around the edge. A seam that has come open can split under the tension on the frame; mend it now.
• Square the borders. Square up the center before you measure for borders, and measure through the middle, not along the edge, so they lie flat.
• Pin a note marked “top” to the top edge of the quilt top.

Batting

Some longarm services include the batting, so you may not need to bring any: ask. If you bring your own, it also needs to be bigger than the top: Gather Here asks for 6″ to 8″ longer and wider. Leave it in its package so it isn’t creased.

What to talk about

• Edge to edge or custom. One design repeated across the whole quilt, or each block and border quilted on its own. Custom takes longer and costs more.
• Density. Tighter quilting is flatter and stiffer; open quilting is softer. Ask to see samples.
• Thread color. One color that blends with most of the top, or one for the back too.
• Price and time. Ask how they price it, what costs extra (thread, batting, binding), and for an estimate and a date.
• Binding. Some quilters will sew it on. If you’re doing it yourself, ask them to trim the quilt or to leave it untrimmed.