conflicting information for longarm quilting
 

Is there a right way or wrong way when longarm quilting example.....once the quilt is loaded I've been told different ways to start quilting 1- when starting, quilt your top border, then move onto the next row and start from the side border and quilt across regardless if you are quilting each block seperately and continue on to the end of row......the 2nd way I was told is quilt your top border, then move to the next row and if you are going to quilt each block seperately, to do that, then advance the quilt and continue to quilt each block then when all blocks are quilted you then unroll quilt and do the side borders. So is there a right way or wrong way OR a more favorable way....I have quilted the center of a quilt before, then went back and quilted the borders (this is without removing the quilt) and found that things in the border tended to pucker.....Thanks in advance....this will also help me when I go to quilt my Double Wedding Ring Quilt

I don't know any 'correct' way to quilt except what works best for me. Usually the first thing I do is stitch the top edge, though I've been known to SID the inner part of the border then the top edge. At least this holds the border firm to quilt it, then everything else follows on, depending on the design on the quilt. Sometimes I do from top to bottom, then remove and reload to do the side borders - then again, the one I'm on at the moment am quilting the side borders bit by bit as I go. You have to have exact measurements and space each design evenly if you go this way.
The only issue I feel, is if you quilt, say a 5" E2E pattern left to right each row, it could push the batting and the top, to the right, so with smaller designs I will do right to left each alternate row.
Just do what seems right to you.

I don't think there's a 'right' way. I do it every which way!
I'm not very skilled in doing a continuous patterned border (like a continuous feather) in chunks, so I do the top border, body of the quilt, bottom border, then turn it & do the 2 side borders. I am careful to baste the edges as I go and don't seem to have any problems with puckers. Other times the pattern I've chosen for the borders will have obvious starts and stops so I can do it as I quilt the body. Sometimes I don't know what I want to do in the borders, so I'll just baste the very top and sides, do the body of the quilt, then go back and do the borders. Again, I am careful to baste the sides as I go. I also will do this if I want to do a meander in the border because I have problems keeping the same scale if I go back and forth between the body of the quilt and the border. I get a more consistent result doing the entire border at the end.
I don't quilt for hire and sometimes the way I do it is not very efficient. I know that more skilled quilters do everything as they go: side borders & quilt body. They also probably actually remember what they did at the top of the quilt by the time they get to the bottom without having to unroll it and look!

This is me too! glad I didn't have to write it all up.

I'm like Paper Princess--it depends on the quilt. I have also sewn down the top, then started working with one color thread (basting the sides as I roll) and then going back and working with the next color, etc. I always am anxious this won't work right, but as long as the backing is squared up on the pick-up & backing rollers, I haven't had problems even with that. I have had puckers when 1) the borders are wavy to start with and I'm not doing an edge2edge or 2) the backing is off square and it starts to stretch (usually when it was pieced with fabric scraps that were not squared on-grain). Could those be the reason for puckers in your borders?

In longarm quilting as with everything else, the right way is whatever works for the person doing the quilting. I would load the quilt and just work from one end to the other. Unless I was doing an intricate pattern on the borders, I would quilt them as I went along. I have turned a quilt to do the side borders and at best IT IS A SUPER PAIN! My motto is IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT. If your method works well for you, why change it.

I don't seem to have a cut and dried formula-I approach each quilt differently depending on the quilting. I am thinking your puckering might be just because part of the quilt is quilted and your border is not yet. I have had this happen to me on a nice flat quilt. I always strive to keep the quilting density as even as possible. I try not to have very dense quilting in one area, and very open quilting nearby. That lends itself to puckers and tucks. When I am changing thread colors, I like to do as much as I can in that area, maybe stitching in the ditch to stablize blocks I will come back to later.

Don't know if this is the correct way but its the way I found to work for me with little to no puckering. I also use robotics in my quilting and mostly custom so stitch intensive which means draw-in will occur. For my top and bottom borders and sashings I split them in half stitching from the center outward, helps with the draw-in. If I'm using E2E patterns I'll stitch left to right and the next row right to left. If doing blocks I work from the center outward again. For the side bordes/sashing I've got those chunked or split into manageable sizes and will stitch those out as I advance the quilt. Also have been told not to attach your side clamps till after you've basted the sides or pinned them down, then add the clamps. Heard that on one of Linda Taylor's videos recently. Since do it that way I seem to have better results. I also have a tape measure that goes from the center outward both directions with little markers to mark my sides, borders, rows, etc. This helps me keep my width of the quilt pretty even.

I will usually doodle what I did on the top border and the body of the quilt and sides on paper so I don't have to unroll the quilt if I forgot

OR a more favorable way....I have quilted the center of a quilt before, then went back and quilted the borders (this is without removing the quilt)

This after first securing the left side, only as much as you are working on (about 17-24 inches for me), and top, all the way, and right side, only as much as you are working on. I use a basting stitch. Then I do the center of the quilt. As I am advancing the quilt I first baste the edges and then work the center. All the way at the end I do the borders. I very seldom turn the quilt to do the side edges. I also at times baste the whole quilt's edges and then advance back and forth to do the quilting. This tends to make a mess for me but at times can not be avoided because of the pattern I want on the quilt.

I agree there is no real right or wrong. Just experiment.