Shipping your quilt
 

What company/service do you use to send your quilts? I have finished a quilt for a former neighbor and need to send it to North Carolina. It's been many years since I sent a quilt out of state. What is your preferred service or company? And how do you pack the quilt - plastic bag inside a box? Double box? I need some help folks!

I use UPS, like that I can track online. I know you can track with postal service but have had trouble with them in the past. I started using a plastic bag for the quilt after a box I sent to my long arm quilter got wet. Didn’t damage quilt top but good lesson.
I also include a copy of the shipping information.

I use USPS. I put the quilt inside a plastic bag and ship in a box. I can track it until it arrives. Knock wood I've never had an issue.

Describe it as a blanket, not a quilt at the carrier office. Get the insurance and tracking whether you use USPS or UPS.

I always call them "fabric scraps"!!! Usually USPS in one of their priority boxes.

Note that insurance will only cover if you have receipts for the contents. You could value a quilt at $500 and insure for that, but if it's lost or damaged, you're going to need to produce acceptable documentation proving the value before the insurance will pay. For example, if you purchased the item OR if the recipient is purchasing it from you.

There was a topic on QB here a year or so ago about this, and at best one could get the value of the fabrics used in that particular instance.

ETA - here's the topic Why Should I Get My Quilt Appraised? - Quiltingboard Forums

I like USPS Priority Mail best. Give the recipient the tracking number.

Shipping your quilt
 

When I have shipped a quilt, I used a zipper plastic bag that my queen sheets came in. I then placed that inside the card board box provided by UPS. The quilt arrived just fine to where it needed to be.

I use large plastic bags and a really sturdy box and always put the "to" and "from" information inside the box incase it gets damaged in transit. I use to ship USPS until I learned that UPS was cheaper and faster for me.

I find my regular USPS office does as good a job as anyone and from the last one I sent which was a couple years ago cheaper. I place mine into a plastic bag as most of mine have gone to Florida and you never know if the package will get dropped into a flood zone so want it to be safe. So far they haven't lost any of mine and I've sent at least close to a dozen down to Florida as gifts.