Amanda_Strand

I have an innova long arm and have done a few quilts on it but am wanting to long arm more but I can only turn out a quilt top so fast. I have connections with two charity quilting groups and they have seemed interested and eager when they found out I have a long arm (they meet at the county extension building where my mom works about and hour and a half away from me). what is the etiquette in approaching a group about long arming their charity quilts? I would expect them to provide batting or pay for batting if I provided it. I assume charity long arm quilting is done "free of charge". I guess I'm asking the ins and outs of charity long arm quilting. Thanks!

patski

they will love you.They don't care about fancy quilting.Just practice and enjoy, they will love and appreciate you

AudreyB

How nice of you! The quilting part of the charity quilts is always the area where we need help. In my guild we can provide the batting and the backing. We hope that the quilt top maker will donate either or both, but since it normally doesn't happen we are happy to provide it.

Most of our longarm quilters only quilt a few each year, so for these we give batting cut for those quilts. We have one lady, bless her heart, who quilts a lot for us. We give her a roll of batting and she keeps it separate, using it only for the guild charity quilts.

I would suggest you contact them, explain that you are a new longarm quilter and would be willing to quilt some charity quilts if they provide the batting and backing. I'd also suggest you tell them if you are trying to start a business and ask if you could get recognition for your contributions. At our guild meeting Show and Tell we show the charity quilts and say who did the top, who quilted it, and who did the binding.

I hope this helps. And, Good Luck!!!!

Tartan

Don't forget to add in the cost of thread, needles and batt they should buy or pay for. Our group is always grateful for longarm quikters to do our charity quilts but you are already donating your labour as well as wear and tear on your body and machine.

Amanda_Strand

Thank you so much for the quick responses! I'll defintely get in touch with them after the holiday

Amanda_Strand

thank you this way exactly what I was looking for!

Annaquilts

The ones I do come with batting and backing all folded together.

sewbizgirl

Our charity group has a lady who will longarm your quilt for $10 if it's to be donated, and just overall stipple. Another lady in the group will let you come use her longarm for $10, any size quilt. The money covers their thread and electricity.

ManiacQuilter2

I do tops for foster kids so I appreciate it when LAQ helps to get my quilts quilted! I provide the batting and so far no one has wanted to use my Aurifil thread (50) that I have supplied.

dunster

I've quilted quite a few charity quilts on my Innova, and in most cases I was given batting and backing that were properly sized for longarming the quilt, but never thread or any form of payment. (That's okay, because I prefer to choose my own thread, and I didn't expect payment.) In a few cases the batting was not supplied, or was very poor quality, or was not cut to the right size for the quilt, and occasionally I was given fabric for the back, but I was expected to cut and sew it to the right shape. These were efforts and expenses that I didn't expect, and I quit offering my work to these groups. If you're offering to longarm charity quilts for a group, it would help for you to have an understanding of what you will receive from them. I know that the guild I recently joined provides good quality batting and backing already prepared for loading on the longarm. The longarmer donates thread, incidentals like needles, time and experience.