I am a new LA'r and I have been learning as I go. Doing my own and for charity. I have loaded a quilt sideways to minimize the passes and learned that the pattern doesn't look right to me either. So now I take the time to load it top to bottom. But in your case, I may not have realized which was the top. So next time like others have posted, be sure to let your LA'r know which way you want it. I have not done any for hire (not sure I ever want to) but WOW $27 is way too cheap. I love doing the quilting but it takes a lot of time just to load a queen size! Probably why I don't do it for hire, my time is too valuable and I would charge too much! I have quilted for friends for free, though.