Preparing Your Quilt
Here are a few important steps to take to prepare your quilt top, batting, and backing for machine quilting.
Quilt Top:
Press your quilt top. It is best to do this from the back side to be certain all the seams are flat and going the right direction. If several seams come together in one area and are not laying flat, the hopping foot on the quilting machine may bump into the high seams and cause damage to your quilt top.
Please Clip all threads. This is important to prevent the sewing threads from becoming tangled as the top and bobbin threads of the machine come together to make each stitch. Also, sometimes a darker thread can show through under a lighter fabric. Clipping the threads solves these problems.
Please mark the top of your quilt with a safety pin for easy identification if it is not obvious which is the top edge of your quilt top.
BACKING:
Is your backing large enough?
The backing fabric should be at least 4” larger than the quilt top on all sides after squaring. If your quilt top is 80” X 80”, the backing needs to be at least 88” X 88”. This is important, especially if the desired quilting is dense. The backing fabric can shrink up in heavy quilting and if it is not big enough this creates a potentially unfixable problem at the bottom of the quilt.
Make sure the backing is squared. Use a 90-degree ruler to make sure it is square.
What backing fabric do you choose? For best results, I use the same color thread in the bobbin as I do on the quilt top. Stitches will blend into a busy backing fabric more than a plain backing fabric. It is best to use a backing fabric that has the same fiber content as the top. Typically a 100% cotton backing is best because most quilters use 100% cotton fabric on the top. Some things to consider about Poly/cotton blend and 100% polyester fabric: These fabrics stretch and shrink differently than cotton and can cause tucks and puckering during the quilting process. Polyester fabrics can “pill” and thus diminish the quality of your quilt you worked so hard on.
Please remove all selvages from the seams and along the edges. This is important because the selvage edge is more tightly woven than the rest of the fabric. If the selvege is left in the seam then the quilt will not stretch the same at that seam. It will be tighter and the rest of the backing can sag while the quilt is on the frame. This difference in tension is very difficult to overcome during the quilting process and can greatly diminish the beauty of the finished quilt. It’s easiest to seam the backing fabric with a one-inch seam, then remove the selvage edge to a ½” seam. Press the backing seams open and backstitch at the edge.
BATTING:
The batting needs to be at least 4” larger than the quilt top on all sides. For example: if the quilt top is 80” X 80”, the batting needs to be at least 88” X 88”.
I offer Hobbs “80/20″ and “Warm and Natural” batting for sale by the square inch. These battings are a low loft and quilt beautifully.
If you supply your batting, please do not pre-cut. Any leftover batting will be returned to you.
More Thoughts:
Does your quilt top have borders? The best way to add borders to a quilt top is to measure the top in three places (down the middle and on each edge). Take the average of these measurements and cut your border pieces. Pin the border to the top in the middle and on the ends then ease in the border and continue to pin. By adding the borders in this manner it reduces the chances of the border being wavy. It is very difficult to quilt a wavy border without tucks or puckers.
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Adding Embellishments? Whenever possible please add embellishments to your quilt after it has been quilted. It is very difficult to quilt around buttons, beads, crystals, etc. The hopping foot may not be able to get around certain things leaving larger areas unquilted. The hopping foot may also accidentally hit an embellishment and damage it, the quilt top or the machine.