No one likes a tale of woe, quilters most of all. For those who have experienced it, there is nothing like that heart-stopping moment when you find that your quilt has been  mistreated by the person who was supposed to love it and bring it to life. Today we learn from the experience of a friend  who is currently damned to the hell of  skinning  two quilts that were very badly done.

scissors-and-cut-line

Now, let me be clear that there is a far margin between a botched quilt job and just not liking the way a quilter who was let to “quilt as desired” has chosen to quilt a quilt, but at a certain point calling out bad work is necessary, and learning from it is helpful to the quilting community as a whole.

In Longarm Quilting there are a whole bunch of choices to be made for each quilt: pattern, quilt piecing, thread color, stitch length, density, and batting come to mind. Each of these choices has a parameter of viable choice depending on the quilt, the quilter, and the price point. (Yeah, you get what you pay for does often ring true here.)

Some quilts are better candidates for some techniques than others and understanding these things can help you and your quilter make choices about how to quilt your beloved quilt top. This and honest communication are very important when it comes to the outcome of your quilt. As the quilt top maker, it behooves you to become knowledgeable about the quilting process in order to be an informed consumer.

8775515_s

 

AND SO IT BEGINS – 

When you first work with a new longarm quilter, there are questions you need answered.  I also STRONGLY suggest that the first time you use a new service that you send them a “test project” and not the quilt top you hope to enter into a competition or have as a family heirloom. Trust me on this.

THE PIECING PART OF THE PUZZLE –

Good or at at least passable piecing skills are a must to create a flat, easy to quilt top. A skilled quilter can work with some quirks, but the better the top you give to your quilter, the overall better chance you have at great results. In the case of the piecer at hand, she did a great job with her piecing, and the fault lies with the quilter.

Of course, there are quilting circumstances that can make some tops harder to quilt than others, such as large bias blocks or what I like to call “confluxed” quilt design – where lots of fabrics come together at one point leaving a lump/bump no matter how skilled the piecer. So where you might have wanted one type of design, it is possible that a more flexible and forgiving all-over design that can avoid these bumps is a better choice for your quilt. It might be something the quilter will only find out after he/she gets your quilt up on the machine. Again, this is where good communication and trust with your quilter is VERY important.

BATTING-

What sort of batting will your quilter be using on your quilt?  Will you bring your own or will you be buying it from them? If getting it from them, ask to see the exact batting they will be using and confirm it is the type you want, no matter what type. I am going to make the assumption that you don’t want crappy “see-through” poly and that might be just what you get if you don’t ask!

No crappy batting

Crappy batting anyone??

 

STITCH LENGTH –

Long or short, stitch length is variable to some degree in quilting depending on the look that you want in the finished quilt. I tend to like a bit more thread on my quilts so will go with a bit longer stitch length when doing more open work but I think we can all agree that stitches that you can slide your whole hand under are a bit excessive and not in keeping with a quality job.

Stitch length gone bad

Yeah, let’s just say no to this…mkay?

 

SKILL – 

How long has your longarmer been in business? Can you see examples of their work? Are they a hand-guided or a pantograph person? Do they have the skill to keep things on track and be smooth with their design (hint, the work shown above sucks). Each longarmer has certain things they are good at. Some are great at a simple all-over and pitiful at ornate custom work. Others use the power of a computer to guide their machines and do not excel at hand guided work.  All of this to say is that your quilt is not the place for the quilter to practice a new technique (that is what charity quilts are for), and don’t ask your quilter to do something out of their comfort zone. Past that, see samples of their work!

KNOTS ARE NOT NORMAL –

Yes, there are places that starts and stops are necessary  in quilting but there are multiple ways that they can be worked in and not leave lumps on the back of your quilt. Knots are an indication of poor work, thread breakage and more.  That said, knots are not to be confused with occasional tiny loops which can happen sometimes and will even out when the thread tension adjusts after the first washing and drying. Thread boogers in all their glory (below).

caution 5

Hot knot mess

 

THREAD: CRITICAL AND TRICKY-

What thread is your quilter using?  Make sure you see and know not only what color you are getting but the brand and the content. While we can sit and toss around the topic all day, I am going to be bold and say that there are some really crappy brands of longarming thread out there, and using them accounts for a lot of headaches in the quilting world, but they are cheap and some longarmers use them. Ask what they will use and expect to hear that they are using a quality brand like Fil-Tec, Superior, or another name brand. And while putting myself out there I will say don’t get your panties in a wad if your quilter suggests a cotton wrapped poly – in a good brand it is great thread and without a burn test you will not be able to tell it from 100% cotton.

crappy quilting

Craptastic is as craptastic does

 

TAKE AWAY MESSAGE –

Quilting is an art and like any other art there are those who are very good at what they do and there are those who’s lack of skill and business ethics damage the industry with each quilt they give back to customer looking like this. With the growing sales in the longarm market, many overnight quilting businesses have been born with quilters who are desperate to cover the monthly payment on their machine with whatever work they can scratch up, even when they don’t have the skills to back up being in business. On the flip side, are the slap and stitch shops who churn out amazing numbers of quilts with unheard of low prices that can be credited to cheap batting, crappy backing, and hack quilting ability.

Of course there are many ethical, talented, amazing folks out there who are quilting, charging a fair living wage, and using quality supplies. These are the quilters you are looking for and might have to wait for since many have a wait list for this very reason.

Screwing up a quilt happens sometimes. I myself have miscommunicated with a client about what they wanted and disappointed their expectations, and in that case I ate the whole cost of quilting and batting – mistakes happen and it is a gut punch lesson I remember to this day.

You and your quilter are partners in making your vision a reality; making sure you pick the right person is critical to the long-term success of your quilty union, as well as to the longevity of your quilt. Choose wisely.

 

YOUR TURN-

Do you have a tale of woe to share?  Let’s hear it and talk about how things could have been made better.  If you have a photo to share send it to me and I will see what I can do about getting it posted up.

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