grammy Dwynn

I am planning on making my DD & SIL a log cabin quilt for their bed. I had her do the measurements ~ the top is 77" wide by 83" long. Then asked for the drop ~ 26" to bed frame and 6.5 from frame to floor.

77 + 30 + 30 = 137"
83 + 30 = 113"

I will not be quilting it. But it makes me wonder.....

How big is tooo big for a Long Arm?

Thank you

mighty

Depends on who is going to quilt it. Too big for my frame . Others have larger frames I am sure.

Peckish

I have a 10 ft frame, so that is too big for me. I have friends who have 12 ft frames, but if I were you I'd find a quilter willing to quilt that size before going ahead and making it, and make sure you know what the approximate cost will be. Otherwise you may be tying it.

The largest quilt I ever made was for a California king and it was 110".

dunster

A California king is 72x84 and a standard king is 78x80. I wonder if she measured correctly? It would be worth checking...

Regardless, the quilt will be pretty big if you want it to come down into the frame. 12' (144") is pretty standard for a longarm's width (although a few are bigger, up to 14', and some are smaller), but not all of that width is usable. The quilt could be loaded sideways pretty easily on most frames though, provided the design is such that the longarmer feels comfortable quilting it that way.

The largest I actually quilted on my 12' frame was 120x118.

QuiltnNan

you might consider a QAYG... either smaller blocks or just the center in one piece and the drops separately.

PaperPrincess

Sounds like she wants a bed spread.

I have a 10' frame. I did an over size king for my cousin. We did the 'body' of the quilt in one section, from the top to the bottom, then did two strips for the sides. She then squared everything and joined the two side sections to the main piece using a QAYG method. I guess it wasn't too bad because the main part of the quilt was off to the left and the only portion she had in the harp was the skinny side section.

Another alternative is to do a smaller quilt with a matching dust ruffle. Doesn't have to be a ruffle, you can do a straight one with pleats in the corners.

grammy Dwynn

Thanks for the suggestions. Had not thought about a dust ruffle, thanks.

I also wondered about her measurements, I may have to swing by her place and re-measure.

I am just in the calculating and cutting faze. I will talk to my LA to see what size she can do.

HMMM, I am comfortable with FMQ, but have not done QAYG (yet).

nativetexan

QAYG was what i was going to suggest. at least the pillow top area. that could be added later. send her pics of where you want her to measure again, a drawing or something she can look at and mark down as she goes.

dunster

If you are thinking about quilting it yourself, check out the book Machine Quilting in Sections by Marti Michell. I used the methods in the book for all my large quilts before I got a longarm. Most of the methods are not the same as QAYG and give you more options for quilting a large quilt, using standard piecing techniques right up to the quilting part.

RV Quilter

I did a 116 x 120 king bedspread for my son. I called it the "monster" quilt. My longarm gal can only go 120 wide at max thus the 116 wide. Your measurements are not far off from what his were.