Long arm quilting question
 

My mother made my daughter a quilt many years ago. It is 4" squares made of polyester knit, it was tied. The ties have come apart and the batting in bad shape and needs to be replaced. I have a long arm, a beginner. My plan is to quilt it on my long arm with a meander stitch. If I fastened it to the leader on the top roller, can I just lay it over the roller that it would usually be rolled on. I think if I try rolling it on a roller that it may stretch and be a mess. Any suggestions?

Yes, you can certainly do that. It's called floating the top. Many long arm quilters never roll the top. The backing is rolled onto the backing & take up roller, the batting is laid over it, then the top is put on top of that and pinned at the top, then basted across the top & sides. Just keep smoothing everything as you advance the quilt and keep basting the sides as you go.

Paper Princess is right. It will probably be easier to quilt too. I do this sometimes.

I never attach the top to the roller...always completely float the top. Less stretch and I feel that I have more control over the top. I also use painters tape to mark on the top roller the outer edges of the quilt top. That way as I advance the quilt I can keep it straight. My top roller is just used as a marker. Clear as mud? Sorry, I've been quilting and my brain is pretty much mush tonight! Let me know if I need to explain it better.

I too am a beginner at long arm quilting and floated my first top :)

Thanks for your help. I don't like to tie quilts and my daughter didn't want to give up quilt made by Grandma

Would you use a batting and, if so, what kind? There was batting in it.

Since it had batting in it, I would put new batting in. It will be such a lovely, warm quilt.

I would use warm and natural

Warm and Natural batting in combination with polyester knit fabrics will make the quilt quite heavy. Unless your daughter really likes heavy quilts (some people do, but many people don't), I wouldn't use it. Since you will be quilting instead of tying, you do not need the stability of Warm and Natural. I would probably use a polyester batting -- either Thermore for a very thin batting, or Hobbs PolyDown for a fluffier effect. These would be much lighter in weight.