Resources for you and your business
Let's Talk Quilts:
Tracey Browning 
Communicating Piecing Problems Before the Longarm Magic
Hey fellow quilting enthusiasts! So, you've poured your heart and soul into piecing a beautiful quilt top. Congratulations! Now comes the exciting part – envisioning how it will look after being longarm quilted. As longarm quilters, we're just as excited as you are to bring your vision to life. However, sometimes, before we load your masterpiece onto our machines, we might spot a few little quirks in the piecing that are worth a quick chat about. Think of it as a pre-quilting pep talk to ensure the best possible outcome for your treasured project!
This blog post is the result of only a part of a recent discussion we hold monthly in our Gold Membership group to continue to improve how we run our machine quilting business and learn how to overcome frustrations using our longarm machines.
The First Look: What We Check
When your quilt top arrives, the first thing we do is give it a careful once-over. Just like you admire your finished blocks, we're looking at the overall picture. We often take measurements in a few places, both horizontally and vertically. This helps us get a sense of whether everything is laying nice and flat and if there are any significant differences in size. We also do a visual check for things like blocks that might be a little puffy or if the borders seem to have different widths.
- Overall Flatness and Drape: The way your quilt top lies naturally on a flat surface provides valuable clues. Are there areas that seem to bubble or resist lying smoothly? This could indicate inconsistencies in seam allowances or fabric manipulation during piecing.
- Precise Measurements: Taking measurements at multiple points – horizontally across the top, middle, and bottom, and vertically along both sides and through the center – is a standard practice, as Tracey highlighted. These measurements reveal any significant discrepancies in size or a lack of overall squareness. Even seemingly small differences can accumulate over a large quilt and lead to challenges when attaching borders or loading onto the longarm frame. Ross’s experience with the group quilt, where individual squares weren't brought down to a standard size, underscores the importance of consistent dimensions.
- Block Uniformity: If your quilt design features repeating blocks, the longarm quilter will examine their consistency in size and shape. Are some blocks noticeably puffier or more distorted than others? This can affect how the quilting stitches across the surface and might require specific strategies to minimize unevenness, as Tracey suggested with the idea of adding extra batting to a fuller block.
- Seam Integrity: A quick check for any open seams or loose threads is essential. Open seams can snag during the quilting process or even come further undone, while loose threads can become entangled with the hopping foot, potentially causing skipped stitches or damage. Both Tracey and Geoff mentioned addressing minor open seams, but significant issues might necessitate the piecer’s attention.
- Border Fit: Borders play a crucial role in squaring up a quilt and providing a finished edge. A longarm quilter will assess how well the borders fit the pieced center. Are they wavy, too tight, or significantly different in width along different sides? Tracey’s discussion about fudging minor border differences highlights the adjustments that can sometimes be made, but extreme variations, like the 6-inch difference she encountered, require a different approach.
Why the Heads-Up?
You might be wondering why we bring up these little things. Well, as longarm quilters, our goal is to provide you with a beautifully finished quilt. Issues in the piecing can sometimes impact how the quilting lays and the final look of your project. By having a friendly chat beforehand, we can explore the best way to move forward together.
What are the Possibilities?
Depending on what we find, there are a few different paths we can take:
- Minor Magic: Sometimes, we can work a little longarm magic ourselves! For instance, if a single block is a bit fuller, we might be able to add a little extra batting just in that area to help it blend in.
- Border Buddies: Borders can sometimes be a tricky area. If there's a slight difference (say, half an inch to an inch), we can often discuss adjusting the border as we quilt to help keep things looking square.
- Your Expertise: For more significant issues, we might suggest that you take the quilt top back to make some adjustments. Don't worry – we're happy to provide guidance and even handy resources, like border handouts with diagrams, to help you achieve the best results. Many quilters really appreciate this extra support and learn valuable tips for their future projects!
- Quilt as You Are: In some cases, you might decide to have us quilt the top as it is, with the understanding that the piecing might lead to certain characteristics in the finished quilt. While we want you to be thrilled with the final result and want our quilting to shine, we also respect your decision, especially if the quilt holds sentimental value or was created under challenging circumstances. However, we'll always be upfront about how the piecing might affect the quilting.
Open Communication is Key
Ultimately, it all comes down to open and honest communication. We want to work with you as a team to create a quilt you'll cherish. By addressing any potential piecing problems before we start quilting, we can set clear expectations and avoid any surprises down the road. Think of us as partners in your quilting journey. We're here to help you achieve a beautiful finish, and a little communication goes a long way in making that happen. So, don't be surprised if we reach out for a quick chat about your piecing – it's all part of the process of creating a quilt you'll love for years to come! Happy quilting!
Gold Members:You can watch the full discussion inside your Q&A Course at any time. Use the video search guide with keywords to find where we discuss any topic each month since Oct 2020.
Check out your Bonus Resources course to find premade helpful customer handouts that you can brand with your own business logo and information.
Categories: : business
IQ Summit Facebook group
Have you joined our community here on Academy or on the FREE Facebook Group for IQ owners? Click on the Facebook icon to join in and see all the amazing designs that everyone has come up with already, building on what they have learned inside this membership. If you are a paid member of IQ Summit or the Gold Members group then we also have a private community inside this platform as well. You can find the link on the top of this page to explore the community you are enrolled in here.
Would you like to have more information at your fingertips to help you with your Longarm Business?
Then head on over to check out the Resources I’ve prepared for you. A really valuable article with a downloadable pdf is a Longarm troubleshooting checklist that everyone should print and use when having machine issues!
We discuss many relevant topics in our monthly live Q & A sessions where we all learn something new and useful each time. From these, courses and articles are created, to build out our library of resources for members to find and utilise when needed.
Then join us in the Gold Member Group of Machine Quilting Academy. If you are already a paying member of IQ Summit then contact me for a special discount voucher to sign up to this service.
