I was just wondering if people that do long-arm quilting get any "nightmare" items to work on?

In a perfect world, what do you hope to find/see when something is brought in to be quilted?

I've seen a couple of posts where the person was disappointed with what the long-armer did, but I would like to see some views form long-armers.

How can we help to make the experience be a mutually satisfactory one?

Look over your peiced top from the back to ensure tension was ok on your seams and you didn't catch the very edge of a piece of fabric in your seam allowance which will most definitely tear apart as soon as we put it on the frame. If you see big loopys on one side of the seam from poor tension, please resew that seam, otherwise we have to. If you only caught the very edge of fabric in a block do something to reinforce that seam or redo it.

Clip loose threads from the top. You don't have to get every single one but if you get most it sure saves us time from having to do it.

Ensure your top is reasonably square by measuring it. If the right side of the quilt measures up at 98" and the left side is measuring 100", please try to get your quilt square by blocking it or removing borders and resewing. 90% of the time this is caused by not measuring for borders at the center of the quilt but at the sides.

Find out how much bigger we need the backing to be from the top and please adhere to those guidelines.

If you're supplying batting, check to make sure it's something we can use on the longarm. Not all battings are created equal - some that work great for hand quilting or even DSM quilting just are nightmares on the longarm.

Pressed would be a dream..... trim all loose threads and tails..... square is priority as well as borders not being "wavy" and being sure the backing is large enough.
and nightmares? Oh definitely.....................they come with the territory. I have two waiting to be done as I type

I just received a couple of quilts that were stitched around the raw edges. What a nice touch! Fabrics do stretch, particularly if there are bias edges!

On a side note, it's easier to deal with a seam in the backing fabric that is 1/2" wide and pressed OPEN.

I agree with what everyone else said up above...Square quilts...Measure your borders everyone!

I also have to say that batting is just as important as the fabric we use for our quilt tops and backs. When someone sends me a batting and it falls apart coming out of the bag...not good! This means it wont hold up in the wash at all! It doesn't save you money in the long run.

When we have layers upon layers of fabric that need quilting (bulky seems)..those really need to be pressed as flat as we can get them.


Thanks!
:thumbup:

I'm not a LAQ'er ... My LAQ'er lets her pleasure be known each time as to how well pressed mine is; that it lays flat and square; and that the loose threads and frayed edges are gone from both the right and wrong sides.

I "hear" her every time and know that my work has paid off. I think that's why she will sometimes agree to rush one thru for me, knowing it's "ready" to go when she receives it.

I just want to say thank you for all the helpful information.

This is very good to know!

And, all the tips are great!! Thank you so much!

Thanks from me, too, I really appreciate all this!