Preparing Your Quilt for Professional Machine Quilting

by Steffani McChesney

We all are so busy nowadays but we are still making quilt tops that need to be quilted. What’s a poor quilter to do? Take it to a professional machine quilter, of course. The results are beautiful and we can get our quilts finished instead of having them just hang in the closet or lay on a shelf unquilted and unused. Finished is wonderful.

Before taking your quilts in to be professionally quilted, though, there are some things you need to know. Quilts to be quilted on long arm machines need to be treated differently than ones quilted on home sewing machines. I interviewed several quilters in the area to find out what they need from us to successfully machine quilt one of our quilt tops. I talked to Betty Colbert (a.k.a.) Aunt Bea, Bill Marks of Goose and Gander Quilting, and Sherrie Offdenkamp and Chantel Gardener of Quilter’s Haven.

All the pros had similar suggestions for preparing quilts for machine quilting but there were a few notable differences, which I will discuss at the end of the article. Here are their suggestions for a beautiful result.

• Make the backing fabric three to four inches larger than the top on all sides.
• If the backing fabric needs to be pieced the seams should be horizontal if possible.
• There should be no loose seams in the top. When the top is stretched in the frame for quilting these loose seams could cause real problems.
• Mark the top of the quilt top, and the back if it is pieced, with a piece of tape or a safety pin so it can be put together properly.
• Don’t embellish the quilt until after it is quilted. Also point out loose pieces such as ears or flower petals so that they won’t be quilted down.
• The top and back should be ironed and delivered on hangers. This is very important for a good job. If there is a crease in the fabric, such as the center crease where the fabric was on the bolt, it will not quilt out. You will have a friend for life.
• All pieces of the quilt should be separate. No spray or pin basting.
• Brush off pet hairs.
• Clip loose threads on the back of the top, particularly if there is a lot of dark fabric next to light or white fabric, that could show through when the quilt is quilted.
• Edges of the top should be straight and the corners square.
• Try not to have any lumpy seams, which could cause problems during the quilting process.
• Need to know whether the backing will be turned to the front to be used as the quilt binding.
• Know that the quilt will shrink in size due to the quilting process based on how heavily the piece is quilted.
• Some quilts will need to be blocked after machine quilting.
• Let the quilter tell you what is the best thread for the quilting process. He or she knows what works best in the machine. You can pick the color, though.
• Press backing seams to one side, not open.
• Staystitch the edges of the quilt top if there are any bias edges or any stretching. If there is a real stretching problem you might have to sew a two to three inch piece of fabric called a pull to the edge to help control the edge when it is put into the frame.
• The best way to get edges to lie flat after quilting is to cut borders on the lengthwise straight of fabric grain.

All the quilters had definite and different opinions on batting. The Quilter’s Haven ladies prefer to use only cotton batting. No polyester at all. Bill Marks prefers to supply the batting on the quilts he does. He uses Hobbs Warm and Natural cotton from a roll to prevent corner stretching, which he sells at cost. Betty Colbert will use any kind of batt except Mountain Mist polyester because it shreds apart under the pressure exerted when the quilt is placed in the frame. She does suggest using a sheet for backing if you prefer a polyester batt to stabilize the batting and prevent puckers.

 So there you have it. A little preplanning from you will help the professional insure a beautiful end result. And you won’t have to feel guiltly about all the tops you have that need to be quilted.