We are now accepting quilts for our longarm services!
Our quilting costs $0.0275/square inch.
If you’d like to bring your quilt in, we require an initial intake meeting where we take a look at your quilt with you and go over quilt size, thread, batting, charges, etc. A scheduled meeting with our longarm expert is required. Please call the store at 203-421-6853 to ensure that someone is available to meet with you.
Please be sure to read the qualifications below and prep your quilt accordingly prior to your intake meeting.
Guidelines on how to prep your quilt for our longarm:
Quilt Top (we cannot accept tops over 108″ wide)
- Make sure to square up your quilt top. The quilt should measure the same across the top and bottom; if you turn it, left and right.
- Press your quilt so that it lays flat. Gently fold and place on a hanger to keep it from wrinkling.
- Make sure the borders are not wavy, and that there are no ripples or puffy spots. These imperfections will cause folds, creases, and lumps as you quilt. This is the most common problem we see. We will check your quilt for these issues before accepting it.
- Make sure seams are secure, and that there are no open gaps in the seams. The machine will get stuck in these areas.
- For quilt tops that are borderless, stay-stitching a quarter inch from the edge of the quilt will keep seams from popping open.
- Indicate the top of the quilt by marking it with tape or a safety pin with the word “top”, so we know which direction to quilt. Also, if the backing has a definite top and bottom, indicate those too.
- Trim all loose threads! Aka, groom your quilt.
Quilt Batting and Backing
- Both batting AND backing should be at least 10″ – 12″ wider and longer than the quilt top. This means that there should be at LEAST 5″-6″ extra batting and backing on each side. For example, a 60″x80″ quilt top should have a 68″x88″ backing
- Press flat. Make sure that there are no hard creases. Failure to remove these wrinkles beforehand will make it virtually impossible to remove them after it’s quilted.
- A word about pieced backings: Remove selvages and use 1/2″ seams. Press seams open.
- Square up the backing fabric on all sides (meaning it’s the same width on both sides and same length on the other two sides).
- Bedsheets are not suitable as a backing. The tight weave of bedsheets will cause tension problems with the machine.
Quilt Batting
Other little things:
- You must use our threads, which we know work very happily with our Bernina Q24 long arm. If you want to buy a spool, we will return the rest. If you use ours, we just charge a small fee per each bobbin we go through.
- No quilt tops wider than 108″.
- We offer extra services such as trimming, binding attachment, repair of areas overlooked by the maker, etc for a fee, calculated per linear inch.
We reserve the right to turn down any quilt that has piecing issues that may interfere with our ability to complete it successfully.