I went to a friends house to quilt my dd's quilt in her long arm and when we finished the top looked great, but the back is a different story. We had trouble w/the machine in the first place, and then come to find out the tension was off. here are two pics of the back and one of the front. So, I think I am going to take it all out and have someone else redo it. Anyone have a better suggestion before I start picking???

Sorry, might have a pic party and inlist some help!

it's a really pretty quilt - you will probably be happier if you redo the quilting in the long run.

looks like it was threaded wrong......maybe the tension.......

boy, that is too bad :(
i keep a mirror tile right on my quilting table and as soon as i start i use it to look at my stitching on the back and i check it again each time i change bobbins, notice a new noise, stop for a few minutes...i am always taking a moment to walk around the table and check to see how it is looking...because
i did that once, only about 2 feet wide before i realized it was not stitching well, but enough that it took me almost 8 hours to pick it all out and then had to re do it...now i check so there is never more than i strip across the quilt and usually less because when i turn the quilt and start again i go 4-6 inches, stop and check it...if all is well i continue...it is a hard lesson to learn.
i give classes on my machine and rent out time...i always stress taking this step...sometimes people don't take me seriously...and i will stop by the machine to see how they are doing and i always pick up the mirror and look at the back; sometimes i have to tell them...oops better stop what you are doing, you have a problem...see this is exactly why i told you to take a moment and check.
sorry you have had this experience...i would offer to help you fix it if i were the friend who did this...have you talked to her about it?

oooo this is so what I went thru BEFORE I figured my long arm out...... tension issues STINK..but once ya get it all worked out it is soooo FABULOUS!

Been there! Done that!

What a good idea. Mirror! I do test piece before I begin. But need to check periodically.

I just had one quilted by a very good person last year and on the back side it was pleated in places, looked awful, front was great. It took me 3 months to carefully unpick the threads. I found that by doing it from the bacstitck worked better and in places where it does a tie off stitch, go inside and carefully clip it so you don't get holes. Mine is now ready but this time I will do it myself on the Tin Lizzie.

Wow, what a crying shame. I do have a helpful note tho I hope. Because it looks like the thread is up off the fabric you should be able to clip a thread and then 3 or 4 inches clip again and pull, it looks like it is loose enough that it will slip out. That is better than having to pick every stitch. I am sure your friend must feel terrible about this. I had this same thing happen to me with one of my quilt tops that I was quilting for myself. I was so frustrated but I did find it before I had done more than one row across. Now I check all the time to make sure it isn't happening. It took me along time to figure out what was wrong. Finally I called the distributor where I bought my machine. He had me to do one small physical adjust to a part on my machine that changed the thread path some and it corrected it immediately. What kind of machine did your friend use? It might need the same tweaking and I will gladly share how to fix it.
Thanks,
Sherryl
Candlequilter
By the way that is a beautiful quilt you have there- wonderful job on the piecing.