Quilt Top
Borders
It is important to apply your borders squarely. If borders are not attached correctly this could lead to excess fabric on borders and the top will not lay flat. Pleats and puckers may develop during the quilting process. Click here to watch a helpful video on applying borders properly. The video in the above link is a great tool, the only thing I would personally add to it is sewing the borders on from the centre outwards to help keep them even rather than sewing them from one end to the other, this is not always necessary, especially for small quilts but when they get larger and there are lots of seams(piecing) it does help.
Just remember the flatter your top lays the nicer the quilting 🙂
Back of your quilt top:
– If you have white or light coloured fabric try to make sure your threads are clipped, especially if the light fabric is next to dark fabrics, as the threads will show through the lighter fabric. (this is a personal choice, if it doesn’t bother you, don’t bother as it can be time consuming.)
– Press seam allowances to leave the least bulk at the seams.
– If you paper pieced your top then please try to remove all the paper pieces.
Front of quilt top:
– Press your quilt top.
– Cut any threads coming though the top. I do try to trim off ones I see as I go if it’s an edge to edge quilt but this can be difficult and tedious if I am working on a custom quilt and they can get in the way.
– Stitch or serge 1/8” -1/4” around entire quilt top to keep seams together and prevent fraying of the edges
– I suggest that you hang it on a hanger with a paper towel roll covering the bar – this allows it to drape more rather than fold over the hanger especially if its a metal hanger. this is not absolutely necessary of course it can be folded and out into a bag or hung on a regular hanger, especially if being shipped
Other:
Please do not layer top, batting and backing. When using a long arm these three pieces are loaded separately.
Quilt Backing
- Backing must be at least 3-5″ wider on all sides than your quilt top. Minky should be at the very least 5″ wider on all sides as it has much more movement in it than cotton backings. if your backing is too small it is sometimes possible to attached leaders to your backing (top and bottom or all sides) that can be taken off after but if that has to be done by me it adds a lot of extra time so there is usually an extra fee for that.
- I usually load the quilt salvage to salvage if you would like it loaded the other way then the the backing needs to be trimmed to make it straight. it is important that the backing edges that are being loaded are straight so the quilt rolls straight during the quilting process and you get a a beautifully quilted quilt that has no overlapping designs from an uneven backing.
- Press your backing is not a must but getting any deep creases pressed out will help to make sure that no folds happen during quilting. light creases are fine. if this is not done it is not a huge deal as I can mist the quilt backing when loading it to help reduce the creases.
- hang backing on a hanger with a paper towel roll covering the bar this will allow it to drape over the roll and not fold, making a crease.
Sew Wild 