twilight

I had the same problem. Wavey border, LQS owner found it before she sent it to the quilter. The problem was I had used Batiks thru the whole quilt the added the border with regular 100% cotton. It stretched and the Batiks didn't. So I redone the border in Batik. Problem solved.

zig56gie

My husband and I work together......him in the front. If there are any places where it would pucker he smooths
it out before I sew that area. As for wavy borders where even with the clamps it needs extra attention. Again he
works it with his hands so that there are no puckers. I will then tell the customer when she picks about the
problem and how to correct it on the next quilt.

Deborahlees

I like the idea of both the LAQ and the quilt top owner, viewing the top together, almost going over it inch by inch....another set of eyes will see things that you do not.....perhaps a seam has come undone or after being folded a border has relaxed.....Perhaps even consider having just a neighbor or friend also look at it....I can very much appreciate however if this was your first quilt and you know it has mistakes, but you love it the way it is....and some one comes along and fixes it to make it perfect and they think they are doing you a favor....I would become very upset. Bottom line COMMUNICATION IS KEY.....in todays world of digital pics and email....how hard can it be......

majormom

Boy, I'm getting a little paranoid about sending my wip to a LAQ! It's a king size and I'm no longer able to quilt anything larger than a baby quilt on my machine due to my physical constrictions. I thought problem solved, I'll send it out. Well, as hard as I try with the great tools that I have, (even the Alto!) I can never get my cuts perfect. And as hard as I try with the great machine I have and the quarter inch foot sometimes my 1/4 in seams...aren't! No room to lay a quilt out to square it, (so I square the blocks as I go along and hope for the best). Guess with my less than perfect quilt going to some poor unsuspecting LAQ my name will be Mud by the time she/he is finished. But thankfully, I am in the same class as the one who doesn't mind a few mistakes in her quilting because it's the mistakes that give it character! Boy do my quilts have character!!!!!!!

Deborahlees

Talk to your LAQ....look at her work...tell her you know its not perfect, and thats okay with you.....Ask her if she feels she will encounter any problems, tell her what your expectations are....If you have used her before or seen her work or talked to her customers you will know what to expect from her....talk, talk, talk till you are blue in the face....
None of our quilts are perfect, and we know that....I think the honesty, integerity and skill of the LAQ is the most important thing here.

mshollysd

I went to LA university and bought what she uses for the contract. If there are any problems, you note them on the contract I think everyone is correct when they say communication is the key.

amandasgramma

I pray none of you quilters become afraid to send your quilts to the longarmer!!!!!! I believe most of us that tell you what problems we encounter just want to educate you, NOT scare you away! These are problems to look for. If you have problems, there's probably not a longarmer in this nation that hasn't encountered your problem and can help you. Squaring a quilt isn't all that hard....If you have a 2 foot section of table or flooring, you can do it. I wish I could connect you to a forum I belong to for longarmers. One woman showed a quilt that for the life of her, she couldn't get it flat. I'm not talking minor little ruffles -- I'm talking that when it was laying on her table it looked like a big dog was sleeping under it!!!! She accomplished a miracle with that one!!!!

Remember this ---- YOU can not make ANY mistake that a long time quilter/longarmer hasn't already made!!!!

KyKaren1949

I would prefer the LA person would lay out the quilt and check it for errors then call me if they find something. I have had two quilts done that had errors I had not spotted. I think when you work and work and work on something, your eyes can sometimes miss mistakes.
I would want to go pick it up and fix it myself before paying her to quilt something that has a mistake. I can't give a gift that has an obvious mistake in it.
IF it were already on the machine, I would be glad to pay her for the extra trouble too.

FroggyinTexas

My word! I am thrilled to death if my friend, who also is my LAer fixes my goof ups. Sometimes she calls me and sometimes she just tells me later. When she has to do that--not nearly as often as when I first started making tops--I am so grateful. I'm sure she charges me for it; at least I hope she does. She is an artist and she has a better eye for the quilting and the fixing of flaws than I do. If it is something really bad, she calls me. Once I had to take the whole top apart and put the blocks back together again. Goodness, I hated to do that, but she was right. And the quilt was a doozie once I got it right! froggyintexas

margecam52

I get mail in quilts a lot. I'm a bit of a crazy LA quilter...I like working on those "not so perfect" quilts. I think it helps me learn to work through issues like D cups and too friendly borders. I also accept sheets as backings....yep, I'm a glutten for punishment. I have gotten some fairly sad quilts in the mail...I either call or email the customer, tell her what I've found (send pics if email) and what I can do to fix them. If it's not real wonky, I don't charge extra...if it's really bad..I offer suggestions on how to do it correctly next time...and tell the customer I can fix for a certain fee, or mail it to her to be fixed...they usually let me fix them...the postage back and forth is usually more than my fee.
Once I have the quilt fixed and quilted...I dig through my old magazines, or go online to find a lesson that teaches how to avoid that issue in the future...that goes into the return box with the finished quilt.