Longarm Quilting Service

Preparing Your Quilt for the Longarm Quilting Service

What you provide

You will provide the quilt top, the PRE-WASHED backing fabric, and the wadding of your choice. 

What Red Bridge Quilts Provides

Red Bridge Quilts will provide the quilting thread, the design, squaring off of the quilt AFTER quilting, and the expertise.

Press the top

The first thing you need to do is press your quilt top.  Be sure to press the seams to the side on the back and make sure they are as flat as you can get them. This also gives you another chance to inspect those seams to make sure there are not any coming undone. Also remove any loose threads at this point. After pressing the seams and removing any loose threads, turn the quilt top over and press the entire top.

Square the top

Square the top by measuring it across the width in three different places and insure that these measurements are the same.  Trim if necessary in order to accomplish this.  Then do the same down the length of the top.

Trim the threads

This step is often overlooked because it is so tedious. If your quilt top has a mix of light and dark fabrics, I suggest checking for loose, dark threads on the front and back that might show through the light fabrics. This is something that you can do while pressing the quilt top for the final time (see above).

Stay-stitching

This is an optional step, but it can be really helpful and will make your longarm quilter really happy!  Stay-stitching is helpful if you have seams (piano keys, for example) or bias edges (half-square triangles, for example) along the outside of the quilt. This helps ensure those seams don’t come apart and will help keep bias edges from stretching.  To do a stay stitch, you simply sew a straight stitch approximately ⅛” in from the edge all around the perimeter of the quilt top.  

Mark the top

Marking the top is an optional step.  Perhaps your quilt top doesn’t have an obvious top or bottom. Maybe you’ve chosen a quilting design that is directional or you have a preference for which way the longarm quilter loads the quilt top.  Marking the top can be as simple as using painter’s tape to show the top and the centre of your quilt.  

Measure

This step is important.  Please don’t assume that your quilt top measures the same as what is written in the pattern.  Most importantly, you will need to measure the quilt top so you know exactly how much backing to provide. 

An easy way to measure your quilt top is to fold it in half lengthwise and measure from the fold to the outside and then multiply that measurement by 2.  You’ll want to do this for both the length and width of the quilt top.  You will  need these measurements so you know how much backing fabric you’ll need. 

Backing

Making sure your backing is square is also very important. Whether you’ve purchased extra wide backing or you’ve pieced the backing, don’t assume it’s square.  For this purpose, you can square up your backing by folding it so that the selvages are touching.  Then once you’ve folded it and it is lying flat, take a ruler and line it up perpendicular to the straight folded edge.  Once you have the ruler lined up, cut off about an inch of fabric. You’ll want to then repeat this step on the other end. 

To calculate how much backing fabric you will need, add an extra 8″ to the width measurement of your quilt top and an extra 12″ to the length measurement of your quilt top..  For example, if your quilt top measures 45″ wide x 60″ long, your backing should measure 53″ wide x 72″ long.  This is to ensure that your backing will load easily on the longarm machine.  You will receive all leftover fabric back again.  You will be able to use this for binding or add it to your scraps.

PLEASE NOTE:  Squaring up your backing fabric correctly as  described above could cause it to be too short for longarming.  Therefore, you may want to purchase a little extra backing fabric so that once it is squared, you are not left with a backing that is too small. 

If you have pieced your backing, a horizontal seam is helpful in reducing bulk when the quilt is advanced on the longarm.  Additionally, this seam should be pressed open.  If your backing is directional or you want a specific side to be the top, please mark it.  

If you provide extra-wide fabric for the backing, please cut it to size according to the measurements described above.  

Wadding

Your wadding should be 3″ larger than your quilt top on all sides.  For example, if your quilt top measures 45″ x 60″, your wadding should measure 51″ x 66″. 

Please follow the above instructions for a successful longarm quilting experience.

Please note:

Red Bridge Quilts’ Longarm Quilting Service has the prerogative to charge extra if any of the requirements mentioned above are not met.  However, RBQ will inform you about the extra charges before doing the job.