Prepare Your Quilt for the Longarm

Getting your quilt ready for longarm quilting is key to making sure everything goes smoothly. To prepare your quilt for longarm quilting, this guide covers everything you need to know, from prepping the quilt top to getting the backing and batting just right. By properly preparing your quilt, you’ll help ensure great results.

• Prepare your backing. Square up the backing fabric as best you can. It doesn’t have to be precise, but ensuring it’s relatively straight will help with the longarm quilting process.
• For pieced backing, trim off the selvedges at any seams you’ve created. It’s OK to leave the selvedges on the outer edges of the backing. 
• The backing must be at least 8 inches larger than the quilt top on all sides. For example, if your quilt top is 60×60 inches, the backing should be 68×68 inches. This extra fabric is necessary for proper attachment to the machine clamps during longarm quilting.
• Clip any loose threads, especially if your quilt top is light-colored. Loose threads may show through after the longarm quilting process.
• Inspect your quilt top to ensure there are no open seams. Secure any seams that might have come apart before you submit your quilt.
• Mark the top center edge of both your quilt top and backing with a safety pin or note. This helps eliminate guesswork when loading the quilt onto the longarm quilting machine.
• Press out any deep wrinkles from your backing fabric and fold it gently. Minor wrinkles are not a big concern for the longarm quilting process.
• Fold the quilt top and backing separately. This helps keep them neat and prevents additional wrinkles.
• Fold up the batting separately. The batting should be at least 4 inches larger than the quilt top on all sides.
• Submit a quilting request form, which will arrive in my email box. I will contact you before you ship or drop off your quilt, ensuring a smooth experience.

By following these tips to get your quilt ready for longarm quilting, you’ll ensure it’s properly prepared for the process, helping to achieve beautiful results. If you have any specific requests or instructions, be sure to include them when you submit your order form.