Wonky tops!
 

I have a (new to me) HQ 16 and a few friends have asked me to quilt their tops..problem is their wonky tops, with wavy borders. I am just using a loose meander and try to make it as straight as I can but sometimes I get folds/gathers in the borders and middle of the quilt .:(

I feel bad but what can I do?? Should I tell them the correct way to make a border by measuring thru the middle...or would they feel offended.

If you don't tell them they will never learn -- I guess that is why I would never consider doing quilts for others! But tht is just me.

personally I tell them and teach them are I don't do them.

I would tell them and offer to help/give advice in how to correct the quilt rather than have it wind up with folds or pleats. Of course you know your friends much better than we do, and there may be some that might be offended, so tread carefully. Maybe point out the wavy border and say you may have trouble quilting it, and would they like to know how you have fixed that problem in your own quilts in the past?

The long arm quilters that I know have brochures on how to apply borders so they are not wavy. One quilter I worked with would examine the top as it was brought in. If the border was wavy she nicely offered the customer 2 choices, either take it back and fix it or she would fix it for an additional fee. Sounds harsh, but she never lacked customers.

Thanks for you advice, I will tread lightly, but will use it as a teaching moment..when I explain why there were these flaws.

My quilter told me because I honestly didn't know better. Glad she did.

A picture is worth a thousand words. If you can show them the problem, all the better.

If I were you, I'd also make up a paper to give your customers which outlines steps they should take to prepare the quilt top for longarm quilting. Include : top and backing all need to be square, all loose threads on back of quilt top need to be trimmed, etc. It's amazing how many good piecers will come with a lovely top which is just not square. I guess they just don't bother to check for that and measure it in several places once it's finished. And it's important for you to know if it's out of square, and how much, before you tackle it.