Thank you yet again for such an informative video. We are blessed to have you share your knowledge with the greater community of quilters. So many questions! Perhaps you might consider covering some of these topics on a future video. 1. What is "fullness"? 2. With the computerization of longarm software available today, is it possible for a longarmer to use one pattern for the body of the quilt and a separate pattern for the borders? When I have asked my longarmer, I get a polite look of "are you crazy" but, as I work in the technology industry, I have to believe this is totally possible today. 3. When looking for a local longarm service, what should I be looking for? What questions should I be asking? 4. Does the equipment that a longarmer have make a big difference in how a project will turn out? Should I be looking for a service that is using a particular type of longarm equipment? 5. Does the size of my project matter? Is there a minimum size project you will accept? A maximum size? Not all of my projects will be complete bed-sized dimensions. Do smaller works qualify for longarm services or, from the perspective of the longarmer, are they a waste of your time and you'd simply rather not? One final thought for you to consider. Your attention to detail, desire for a balance of quality and practicality, and your willingness to share with this community would all be reasons for me to not think twice and pay the postage to ship you a project to Canada.
Oh wow, you win for longest comment ever! 😆 I'll see if I can answer your questions: 1 - Fullness is when two blocks that are not the same size are sewn together. The larger one ends up kind of floppy, like it has extra fabric in it (because it does). The risk when quilting full blocks is that tucks and puckers will occur where the fabric gets pushed over and stitched onto itself by the machine. 2 - This is indeed possible, and would be considered "semi-custom", or "custom computerized" quilting. It's not a service I offer, but others do. 3 - Some basic information to find out would be price, services offered, turnaround time, whether they accept mail-in quilts, etc. This should all be found on a longarmer's website, but if not email will go a long way in helping you determine if you like the quilter's vibe / communication style. 4 - I don't think equipment has a large impact on quilting quality. 5 - Size does matter, and longarmers tend to charge per square inch to compensate for this. Due to my machine's size, I can only accept quilts that are 110" wide or smaller, but there's no minimum size that I can load (I've quilted lots of table runners in my day). I do however have a minimum charge, because it (improbably) takes nearly as long to load a baby quilt as it does a king sized one. Thanks for your kind comments and taking the time to watch my video!
Shelly, I’ve done 2 quilts for 2 other quilters, I should have rejected. I had to watch a video on how to smooth out the fullness & puckers. The other one they didn’t want to quilt it, so she talked me into doing it. She spray basted & stitch basted it. I made her pull it apart. Threads everywhere & it gummed up my needle. I made them both beautiful but in the future, I need to see them before I agree to do it.
Hooray, a fellow Canadian! I’m always looking for Canadian content creators. Where in Canada are you located and how can I find out more about your longarm services?
Hooray for Canadians on the Internet! I'm located in Manitoba, and you can find all the details about my longarming service here: matantequilting.com/long-arm-quilting/ Happy quilting!
Id love to see some videos of how you decide on different quilting designs to go with quilt tops you receivem.
I'll add that to my list of video ideas! Thanks for the suggestion! 😊
Thank you yet again for such an informative video. We are blessed to have you share your knowledge with the greater community of quilters.
So many questions! Perhaps you might consider covering some of these topics on a future video. 1. What is "fullness"? 2. With the computerization of longarm software available today, is it possible for a longarmer to use one pattern for the body of the quilt and a separate pattern for the borders? When I have asked my longarmer, I get a polite look of "are you crazy" but, as I work in the technology industry, I have to believe this is totally possible today. 3. When looking for a local longarm service, what should I be looking for? What questions should I be asking? 4. Does the equipment that a longarmer have make a big difference in how a project will turn out? Should I be looking for a service that is using a particular type of longarm equipment? 5. Does the size of my project matter? Is there a minimum size project you will accept? A maximum size? Not all of my projects will be complete bed-sized dimensions. Do smaller works qualify for longarm services or, from the perspective of the longarmer, are they a waste of your time and you'd simply rather not?
One final thought for you to consider. Your attention to detail, desire for a balance of quality and practicality, and your willingness to share with this community would all be reasons for me to not think twice and pay the postage to ship you a project to Canada.
Oh wow, you win for longest comment ever! 😆 I'll see if I can answer your questions:
1 - Fullness is when two blocks that are not the same size are sewn together. The larger one ends up kind of floppy, like it has extra fabric in it (because it does). The risk when quilting full blocks is that tucks and puckers will occur where the fabric gets pushed over and stitched onto itself by the machine.
2 - This is indeed possible, and would be considered "semi-custom", or "custom computerized" quilting. It's not a service I offer, but others do.
3 - Some basic information to find out would be price, services offered, turnaround time, whether they accept mail-in quilts, etc. This should all be found on a longarmer's website, but if not email will go a long way in helping you determine if you like the quilter's vibe / communication style.
4 - I don't think equipment has a large impact on quilting quality.
5 - Size does matter, and longarmers tend to charge per square inch to compensate for this. Due to my machine's size, I can only accept quilts that are 110" wide or smaller, but there's no minimum size that I can load (I've quilted lots of table runners in my day). I do however have a minimum charge, because it (improbably) takes nearly as long to load a baby quilt as it does a king sized one.
Thanks for your kind comments and taking the time to watch my video!
You are so kind ❤.
I'm just out here telling the truth!❤
Awesome message! Such great advice.
So glad this video resonated with you! ❤
I absolutely love this!!
Aw, thanks Trish! ❤
Good advice ♥
I'm so glad you found it helpful! 😊
Shelly, I’ve done 2 quilts for 2 other quilters, I should have rejected. I had to watch a video on how to smooth out the fullness & puckers. The other one they didn’t want to quilt it, so she talked me into doing it. She spray basted & stitch basted it. I made her pull it apart. Threads everywhere & it gummed up my needle.
I made them both beautiful but in the future, I need to see them before I agree to do it.
Well, like I mentioned, it has to be the right quilter / longarmer relationship. Sounds like you've had some bad matches.
Hooray, a fellow Canadian! I’m always looking for Canadian content creators.
Where in Canada are you located and how can I find out more about your longarm services?
Hooray for Canadians on the Internet! I'm located in Manitoba, and you can find all the details about my longarming service here: matantequilting.com/long-arm-quilting/
Happy quilting!
@ Thanks, I’m in Ontario but I’ll check out your site.