Prepare Your Quilt

 Thank you for trusting me with your precious quilt! The utmost care and attention to detail will be paid to ensure your quilt turns out beautifully! A well-prepared quilt top and backing will go a long way to ensure a beautiful result! Here are some guidelines below that will help ensure you get the best out of the quilting.

 Please contact me if you have any questions or need help with any of these!

Quilt Top Preparation

  • If your quilt top has borders, please pre-measure the strips, and pin them to your top before sewing them on. This will avoid wavy borders that cause puckers during quilting.

  • Please make sure it is pressed. Folds occurring during shipping to me will be okay.

  • Please trim any loose threads, especially on quilts with light and dark fabrics. These threads can show through the lighter fabrics after quilting and can be difficult to remove post-quilting.

  • If there is a preferred “top” to your quilt, please mark with a safety pin and a scrap piece of fabric.

  • Please do not add any embellishments prior to quilting.

  • Please do not baste your quilt top, batting, and backing. 

Backing Preparation

  • Please make sure your backing is pressed and that it is at least 4” wider than your quilt top on all sides. If it is not, please sew on a piece of scrap fabric to the side(s) that do not meet this requirement so I can have enough room to attach the backing to the longarm. You don’t need to trim your backing down to the quilt top size. More is always better!

  • A half inch seam is best when joining backing, but not required.

  • If possible, please leave selvedges on the outer edge, but trim selvedges when part of a joining seam.

  • If there is a preferred “top” to your backing, please mark with a safety pin and a scrap piece of fabric.

  • Square your backing to the best of your ability.

  • If you would like to use a sheet as backing, please contact me prior to sending. Only certain types of sheets will work properly on the longarm.

Batting Preparation – if providing your own batting.

  • Please make sure your batting is at least 4” wider than your quilt top on all sides.

  • I can only accept high-quality batting such as Quilter’s Dream, Hobbs, Warm & Natural, etc. I cannot accept Mountain Mist or other low-quality batting types due to the potential damage it can cause to the longarm machine.

Shipping Preparation

  • It is recommended to place your quilt top and backing in a plastic bag. If the package encounters any moisture during transit, it will be protected.

  • It is also a good idea to put a note card or piece of paper with the shipping and return address inside of the plastic bag in case anything happens to the outer packaging during transit.

  • Email the tracking number to me once shipped so I can keep an eye on its arrival.

  • If you would like, you can also direct ship batting or backing to me directly from where you purchase it. Please let me know and provide a tracking number if you have one so I can keep my eye out for it.

Return Shipping

  • I ship via USPS Priority Mail. $50 of insurance is included and I give the option to add additional insurance if you would like.

  • Shipping costs are added to your invoice.

  • Tracking number will be provided once shipped.