Am I wrong
 

Am I wrong, or too fussy? I finally started to put a binding on a quilt that I had a longarm quilter do for me last August. As I was hand sewing the binding to the back I noticed a loose thread in the quilting. When I pulled on it to clip it off, 2-3 stitches came undone.. so I pulled a few more out, tied a knot and buried the threads. I then realized this was a problem all over the quilt where it seems lines of quilting were stopped or started apparently without the quilter stitching in place to anchor. So far I have found at least 60 places where this has occurred. I showed it to the quilter this morning and she got very defensive, claiming that I should just clip the small threads and the rest of the stitching would not come undone. I can’t give this quilt away thinking that lines of quilting could come undone as the quilt gets used,washed,handled. What do you think? I was taught that the stitches should always be anchored when starting and finishing a line of quilting in the middle of the quilt.

I agree totally with Tartan. We all know that those stitches could and probably will come undone if the quilt is washed very much. She did not do a good job as far as I am concerned.

Not picky at all! All starts and stops need to be anchored that’s longarming 101 and is to be expected! I would firmly yet politely ask for a refund. How did you pay for it? I know credit cards can be disputed when there are issues with services. Have you used this person before? How did you come to use her? Has she been in business long? Does she have favorable feedback/reviews? I’m certainly not a professional longarmer, but if this were my business I would offer you either a refund or a redo at my expense including ripping out the areas in question. I’m sorry this happened to you, I’m sure you’re very frustrated and dismayed.

I don't believe you are being fussy at all. Long Arm quilting is expensive! You should not have to go around the quilt at tie off the ends of the quilting. I would not use her again to start with and ask for a refund. I would accept at least 50% back if the rest of the quilting is good. I would not use her again.

Nope, totally standing next to you on this one. She's full of ... something... if she thinks you can just clip those and it will be fine.

Thank you all for your support. I definitely won’t be using her again for longarm quilting. She said she been doing it for 6 years and never had a problem before. I feel badly because I thought her quilting was creative for a very busy quilt. She just didn’t seem to understand my concern about the stitches not being anchored down. Luckily I don’t usually send my quilts out but do them on my domestic machine.
I will try to post pictures on the picture forem!

You have my sympathy and you are the second person I have read today that had the same problem but the other person lived in Canada so I'm pretty sure it wasn't the same person. I would never leave stitches untied in some fashion. I know some quilters use very small stitches at the beginning and the end of their quilting to anchor the stitches but don't just stop without some type of method to keep the stitches in place.

Problems like this is why I quilt my own quilts. I do anchor stitches at the beginning and end.

I would be be very angry and never use her again.

You are definitely not wrong or excessively fussy! I took a "Introduction to Long Arming" class this winter from a shop that offers rental time on long arm machines and we were all taught how to anchor the stitching at the start and end of our stitching. I think every long arming demo video I've seen on youtube does this. It sounds like this person you hired got herself a long machine but not look into *how* to properly use it to produce quality, long lasting products. (Kinda like getting a car without having a drivers ed course! Not a perfect analogy, but you get idea.) I would not expect to even *need* to check whether someone offering long arm quilting would anchor their stitching, but now I guess that a bunch of folks will now asking about this when looking into hiring someone new. Big sigh. You have my sympathies.

You were probably nicer about it then I would have been. Trying to pull stunt like that shows she thinks her customers are too dumb to know any better. I would make sure all my quilting friends knew about her work. This is when a guild is important. All it takes is one quilt to be messed up by a longarmer with no apology or fix offered to lose most all business in the town. Word gets around.

I think she should work with you if she wants any future customers. After all, she is just out her time and thread. You are out your fabric, batting and money you paid for a finished quilt. It’s not finished by any means if the quilting is all coming loose. That is bad work on her part and bad business for her long arm career.

Hmmmm. This really shouldn't happen. I'm not sure how experienced this person is or who recommended her, but going forward, there are just too many other people who would like your business.

Sorry this is happening to you.

I’m with you on this one. If she wasn’t going to anchor the beginning and end stitches, she should have either buried them or left enough thread for you to bury them yourself. She was totally wrong and should be embarrassed. If she can’t be honest, she can’t be trusted. Find someone else.

You are not being to picky at all. I am a beginner at learning on my long/mid arm quilting machine. I either stitch in place a few stitches or I go edge to edge to be sure the binding captures my ends. These are my own quilts that I make and give as gifts, or donate, or I have made as an order. I do not quilt for others. But even my other projects I do make and sell, such as the jellyroll rugs or pillows, or table runners, I always use my lock stitch several times at each ending or beginning so nothing comes unraveled for the person who purchases it.
After discovering what you did, if I were you, I would not send any of my quilts to her again.

Where were the loose threads - on the edge of the quilt or in the body of the quilt? If they were at the edge, could they have been cut when the quilt was trimmed, therefore cutting off her secured stitches? Just a question.

I am sorry this happened to you and I don't think you are being too fussy at all. I agree with everyone else that possibly you can get a refund and lesson learned never to use her again.

That's really bad business. I think you're totally justified on this.

Again, thanks for all your support! The unlocked stitches were all over the quilt. I spent the time pulling out a few stitches in each spot , tying tog bobbin and top threads, then burying the knot. It took about 2 hours to do at least 60 areas. Most of them looked like she had locked stitched at the end of a run, moved to another nearby area and kept stitching without first locking the new start. I tried to show her that but she just was too defensive to get what I was talking about I guess. Anyway, the quilt still looks great. The front is a Judy Niemeyer design and the back is a very busy batik. Unless someone really studies it, I don’t think it will be noticeable and washing the quilt will probably get rid of the holes in the fabric from pulling out the stitches. I did post pictures of the quilt on Picture Forum.. thanks again!

Yikes! I LA for others and one thing I always check is the back for any lose threads as sometimes it looks great on front but a thread has wiggled out on the back. Can't believe she didn't fix it for you.

Here's the link if anyone wants to see. It's a beautiful quilt.
https://www.quiltingboard.com/pictur...s-t312735.html
JMHO, but after hearing your story *and* looking at the quilting detail in the photos, you need to find a better, more skilled longarmer. Maybe how she quilted it was exactly what you wanted, and if so, I'm sorry for butting in. But I think the quilting was very basic and could have been a lot prettier.

I would not use that quilter ever again. I don’t have a long arm and at My age I will not ever have one. I send my quilts to a woman I have used for years and have never had that problem. I would be furious...all that work and expense.

Obviously either an experienced or a poor quality quilter. Change quilters.