Quilt Preparation
Quilt Top
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Square your quilt top
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Quilting does not fix wavy piecing and/or borders. Accurate measurements and cutting will eliminate the waviness.
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Eliminate wavy borders by following these steps. Measure your quilt in three places along the length. The average of these three measurements will determine the length you should cut for the side borders. Mark the center of the quilt side and center of the border, line up at the center points and pin along the length of the border easing as needed so the quilt ends match. After the side borders have been sewn on, repeat this process for the top and bottom borders.
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Trim all loose threads. Threads can show thru on lighter colored fabrics. (Excess threads needing to be trimmed may incur an extra charge.)
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If your top has pieced edges stay-stitch approx. ¼” around the entire top to stabilize the edge seams. (Repairing seams that are coming out may incur an extra charge.)
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Quilt top should be pressed to flatten the seams. Pressing during every stage of construction should make any additional pressing minimal if needed at all.
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If your pattern has a top/bottom design, label with a note paper marked “TOP” and secure with a safety pin to keep it attached to the fabric.
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Do not pin or baste your quilt together.
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Save all embellishments until after the quilt has been quilted. It is impossible to quilt around embellishments safely and can damage your quilt and/or my machine.
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Painted fabric (rather than dye) can cause needle breakage and possibly tear the quilt.
Quilt Back
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Quilt backing should be pressed and squared up.
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Backing should be a minimum of 8” wider and longer than the quilt top. The allows me room to attach your quilt backing to my machine.
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When seaming the backing, please leave the selvages on the top and bottom on the backing. The selvages are more stable for pinning the backing onto my machine. Selvages should be cut off on the sides being seamed. If possible run the seam horizontally rather than vertically, this helps rolling onto the machine easier.
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Pieced backs are fine. Watch for waves when piecing larger pieces. Measure and cut accurately to eliminate waves.
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I cannot guarantee accuracy if requesting the back be centered.
Batting
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Batting should be cut a minimum of 6” wider and longer than the quilt top.
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Pre-shrinking your batting should be done according to package directions. I do not preshrink batting.
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All batting made of cotton or cotton/poly blends will shrink when washed. Poly batting will not shrink significantly.
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If piecing batting, I recommend laying the two pieces of quilt batting side by side and overlap the edges. Cut through both layers so the two pieces share a straight edge that fits together. Use a wide zigzag stitch to join the two pieces together – do not overlap them when joining together. Overlapping batting will result in a noticable lump in your completed quilt.
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Batting is available for purchase from me.
Quilt Design/Pattern
I have hundreds of edge to edge quilt designs in my library. If you are interested in a particular design, please let me know. We will work together to help get a design you are happy with.
A few of my favorite design websites are:
My Creative Stitches www.mycreativestitches.com
Urban Elementz www.urbanelementz.com
Quilts Complete www.quiltscomplete.com
Quitable www.quiltable.com