top of page

QUILT PREPARATION

Let's work together to make your quilt spectacular!

My Mum always told me to remember the five Ps: proper planning prevents poor performance. It's certainly true in quilting! Here are the guidelines to prepare your quilt top for our long arm services. If you have any questions or just want to chat about your quilt, contact us. We love to talk to quilters!

​

Quilt Top

  • Trim your quilt to its finished size. We will never cut or trim your quilt top. It's your work of art, and we're not going to mess with that.

  • If your quilt isn't square or doesn't lie flat, we will do our best to quilt it smoothly and work out any tucks, puckers, or over-full spots. There are limits to how much we can finesse things, but we'll do our best and we will contact you if we anticipate any problems.

  • If your quilt does not have an outside border, we recommend that you stay-stitch around your quilt a little less than 1/4" from the edge to ensure that your seams don't open on the ends. Provided you stitch inside the 1/4" line where your binding will attach, your stay-stitching will be hidden once you attach your binding to the quilt.

  • If you plan to add embellishments such as buttons, sequins, couching, or any kind of 3D element to your quilt, wait until after your quilting is done. There is not enough clearance to be able to quilt your quilt top with those elements present.

  • Trim all loose threads on the top and underside of your quilt top. 

  • Press your quilt top with seams open or to one side, as you prefer. We will give your quilt a quick press to sort out any shipping creases, but you should carefully press your seams so that they lie flat for quilting before you send it to us.

​

Backing

  • You have the option to provide your own backing fabric or choose from our available fabrics. We do not provide seaming services for quilt backs, so if your quilt is 96" or wider, you must provide your own quilt back.

  • If you provide your quilt back, it must be 4-6" larger than your quilt top on all sides to accommodate quilting.

  • If you have seams in your quilt back, make sure that you have removed selvages before seaming. Selvages are woven much more densely than the body of the fabric, and the seam can feel stiff (and different from the rest of the backing fabric) if you don't remove these edges.

  • If you have pieced your quilt back, press your seams open or to one side, as you prefer. We will give your quilt back a quick press to sort out any shipping creases, but you should carefully press your seams so that they lie flat for quilting before you send it to us.

  • Please note that if you have pieced your quilt back, we will do our best to center the top over the back, but it's very difficult to center accurately. If your quilt back has a top, please clearly mark the top of both the quilt backing and quilt top so that they can be arranged correctly.

​

Batting

  • Please do not send batting with your quilt top. We offer several different kinds of batting for your quilt from makers that we know and trust to ensure a high-quality result for your quilt.

  • If you aren't sure which batting works for your quilt, click here to read about our batting options. If you prefer, just reach out and we'll help you choose.

  • If you would like multiple batting layers, please contact us for a customized quote, as the online form is not designed to handle customizations to batting layers.

​

Shipping

  • Place your quilt top and/or backing fabric in a strong plastic bag and seal it well for shipping. We want your quilt to be safe in the event that it comes in contact with liquids while it is in transit to us.

  • Send your quilt via a reliable service with tracking. We use and recommend US Postal Service Flat Rate Priority shipping. It's competitively priced, the shipping boxes are free at any post office, and you're supporting the US Postal Service. What's not to love about any of that?

​

How do I order edge to edge quilting?

  • Easy! To choose all the options for your quilt and see your edge-to-edge quote, just fill out the form here

 

Send your quilt to:

That Expat Aussie​

P.O. Box 223

Placentia, CA 92871

bottom of page