king size quilt help
 

I have pieced a top for my bed and am thinking I need someone to long arm this beast. We use a featherbed topper which adds to the height of the bed. I want the quilt to come down to the side rails. My questions are:
What is the absolute largest dimension of a top that can be quilted on a long arm that is set up for king size quilts?
Exactly what does it mean to remove all threads from the back? Do I cut off every little "tail" I see?
What if all the seams won't lie down nicely?
I don't want a border on this quilt. Should I baste around the edges of the finished top so it won't stretch?
How are off can the top be "not square" and still be okay?
I've looked for the answers to these questions on the web and not really found a concrete answer.
Thanks!

My first suggestion is to measure to where you want the quilt to lay. There are different sizes of frames so you might be limited with who can quilt your quilt. You want to make the quilter's job easier to mount the quilt onto their frame. Pressing and clip of thread just makes the quilt look nicer. Do you want a black thread to show thru where a white section? Maybe you should watch a u-tube video on "mounting a quilt on a LA frame"so you understand what a LAQ does and many of your questions will be answered.

I am working on a king size quilt top that I will be sending out to a long arm - my first time so I have alot of your same questions. I will be watching this thread

For this question I am working snipping some here and there to have them lay better. Then I am going to iron those spots extra with Flatter. I use the unscented and it does help to beat down the bulky spots
http://smile.amazon.com/Soak-Soakwas...ywords=flatter

I have been quilting for customers for 15 years so maybe I can answer your questions.

What is the size of your top in inches? My machine is 15 feet long; however, the leaders that I pin the sandwich to are 150" long. I could pin a 150" backing onto the leaders, but I would not want the quilt top to come to the edge of the leaders, so I would say a top around 144" long

When someone says that all the threads should be removed from the back, they usually mean that those little stray threads either attached or loose might show just under the quilt top after it is quilted (doesn't look very well). If the fabrics of the pieced top are fairly dark or busy those little threads probably won't show. But a light or white background will probably let them show, therefore the reason for removing them.

A little pressing can coach most seams to lie down nicely.

If there is no border, basting around the outer edges will insure that the seams do not come unsewn in the process of handling and loading the top onto the frame.

I have found that I can deal with an inch or two off square on a large king quilt and have it quilt up nicely. More than that the top might end up with a small pucker, or a little pleat to work the extra fabric in.

Hopefully this will help a little bit.

Longarmers have different sized frames, but the most standard seems to be 12 feet, or 144 inches. Not all of that width can be used by the quilt, since the sewing needle can't get to the very edge of the frame, and the backing needs to be several inches bigger than the top in each direction (the definition of "several" being up to the longarmer, but usually 3-4). Some longarmers can deal with quilt dimensions being a long ways "off" and some can't. You really need to ask some of these questions of the longarmer who is going to do your quilt, and ask to see pictures of their work.

Different longarms have different size frames, call the longarm quilter and ask how large she can quilt and what her requirements are-- different quilters require different things concerning squared up, how much larger the backing/ batting needs to be, some carry batting, some request certain ones. Everyone is different. If the first one you contact is not able to meet your needs try another.

This information helped so much. Thank you!!!!!

Thank you so very much. The information was exactly what I was looking to get.

Good info. All I can add is make sure you confirm with your longarmer what her/his preferences are for top preparation. Some will ask for things you may not have even thought about yet, such as having a pieced back seam go horizontal instead of vertical.

you've already gotten some good advice, but one thing I would suggest with a very large quilt is that you consider using a wideback for the backing, especially if you think that your top is not quite square--a well squared back will help with that off square top, making a more solid foundation for the quilter to get your top squared as best as possible. And those seams that aren't lying flat, if you haven't already you might try a little steam.

Thank you, carolaiken, for asking this question, and thanks to all the rest for your detailed and very helpful responses. I have procrastinated taking my BIG quilt to a longarmer because I couldn't deal with snipping all those little threads. The quilt is fairly dark (blocks from a Civil War block swap); now I know that I don't need to make the back "perfect" (as if!). You ladies are great.