Originally Posted by needlefruit
Several posts recently mention poor quality longarm quilting. I am a "longarmer," so I can say this: I would NEVER EVEN THINK of delivering a quilt with 'eyelashes,' pleats, or any other such atrocity! First, if a longarmer mounts the quilt correctly and tension is adjusted properly, those mishaps are rare. When they do happen, there is only one thing to do, and that is rip out and fix. Time consuming? Pain? You bet! I charge more than other longarmers in my area, and I refuse quilt tops that are too sloppily pieced. My best customers are those who've had a 'nightmare' quilting job done on a quality pieced top by a sloppy longarmer! They are more than happy to pay my higher rate. There are lots of 'it's ok if you can't see it from town' type piecers AND longarmers. They need/deserve each other. Quilt snob? Too picky? Maybe so, but I have happy customers who appreciate my snobbish, picky ways, and I'd happily sign anything I quilt. My suggestion is that you ask to see a longarmer's work before turning him/her loose on your quality pieced top!
Needlefruit, I am with you on this one. I must be a quilt snob too, but my reputation as the pickiest quilter in town hasn't hurt my business any. I figure that a quilt is a collaboration - and machine quilting should enhance the quilt, not take over or ruin the quilt. Any mistake on the quilt is a free quilt. I can't bear to quilt over applique - it should be outlined with a few defining stitches within the applique. If I could not live with it, the quilt doesn't go out the door--most of my business is from word of mouth. So yes, I pick out the stitches.
I once quilted a king size quilt, and when I rolled it down, discovered that my bobbin tension was off and had made about a billion knots on the back. It was at the time that my triplet daughters were learning to drive, and between the three of them, they needed 120 hours behind the wheel with an adult chaperone. I told them to get in the car, because we were going on a drive. To Wyoming.