Frequantly Asked Questions
Q: I don't know anything about quilts or sewing. Can you help me?
A: Of course I can. I have helped many nonquilters and nonsewers to create the perfect quilt. I will ask you a lot of questions so that I can understand what it is that you want your quilt to look like and also what you plan to use it for. I will walk you through every step and help you decide on fabrics, patterns, and materials. You don't need to know the technical terms involved to get the quilt you want, that's what you hire me to do.
Q: How do I launder (wash) my Quilt?
A: The more gentle you are with your quilt, the longer it will last. I always recommend washing a quilt on a gentle cycle in cold water with a very mild deteregent. If you can avoid brightners, enzymes, and heavy fragrances in your detergent this will also help your quilt last longer; as these chemicals will buildup in the fabrics of your quilt. Do not overstuff your washer because it can cause your laundry to get stuck in one spot and your washing machine will turn and rip your laundry. Overstuffing a washing machine will also prevent your machine from cleaning as well as it should. Quilts can be put in a dryer, but again this will cause them to breakdown faster.
Antique Quilts: Antique Quilts are a whole different animal. The fabrics are alreay old and delicate. The stitches are often hand stitching and the thread used is often cotton. All these things mean that you should be extra careful when launderying an antique quilt. I feel the best way to launder an antique quilt is to hand wash it in the bathtub, in cold water, with a mild detergent. Again try to avoid brightners, enzymes, and heavy fragrances. Rinse it several times in the bathtub to remove the soap from your antique quilt. Do not hang your quilt to dry. The weight of the wet fabric will probably ruin your clothesline and it will deffinitely cause the quilt to break some of it's own threads. Lay a sheet on the ground outside and lay the quilt on top of the sheet. When the top of the quilt is dry, flip it over and lay in on top of the sheet again to dry the other side of the quilt. The sheet keeps the clean quilt from coming in contact with grass and dirt and prevents staining.
A: Longarm quilting is a large sewing machine that is mounted on a table with rails for the machine to ride on. The separate layers of the quilt are loaded onto rollers on the machine and are gathered up on a single roller after being quilted. The sewing machine moves over the top of the quilt for quilting. Since the quilt top isn't moving, it prevents bunching, sliding, or repositioning of the quilt top during the quilting process. There is also no basting or pinning required on a long arm quilting machine so the quilt top tends to lay very flat and there is no puckering.
A: I have a Gammill classic with an 18 inch throat depth. It is mounted on a 15 foot custom made quilting table.
A: Meandering stitch is a squiggly continuous line that is quilted over the entire quilt top. I do 3 different sizes of meandering stitch: small, medium, or large. Meandering stitch is the most common stitch used in quilting and normally covers the entire top of a quilt.
Q: What is stitch in the ditch?
A: Stitch in the ditch is very simply quilting in the seams created by the piecing you did on your quilt top. This allows the top to be quilted without actually making any visual changes to the quilt top itself. It forces the quilter to slow down and takes more time then the meandering stitch, but sometimes it can be the most complimentary stitch to an intricately pieced quilt top.
Q: What is heirloom quilting?
A: Heirloom quilting is the most labor intensive of all quilting styles. It involves quilting to showcase the quilt top in the best way possible. It gives the quilter more artistic freedom in interpreting the flow and needs of the quilt. Heirloom quilting can include tracing certain parts of a quilt top that you want to really highlight, or stitching inside of certain block patterns to make them stand out.
A: Stipple stitch is very tight stitches that almost completely cover the area they are placed over. It is good for creating a background on a plain colored block.
A: Trapunto is a relief finishing technique. It involves placing the quilt top over batting and quilting a pattern of some sort. Then the batting is cut away from the outside of the stitched pattern and the quilt top is loaded and quilted in the normal fashion. This will cause the quilted pattern to be raised higher then the rest of the quilt.
A: YES. You can use as many types of stitches as you feel are needed to make your quilt the show piece or family heirloom that you have envisioned since you first started planning your quilt.
A: Binding is the finishing edge put on your quilt. Some of my customers prefer to do this step themselves as it is the final touch in completing a quilt. Binding is important to a quilt because the edges of a quilt are the area that receives the most wear and it protects the quilt top edges from being worn away. Binding can be replaced as it wears out on a family heirloom or favorite quilt.
Q: What fabrics will you work with?
A: I will work with almost every fabric available. I have quilted with faux fur, velvet, satin, silk, psuedo suede, felt, fleece, upolstery fabric, fringed fabrics, sequinced fabrics, stuffed animals, baby clothes, t-shirts, tapestry, brocade, and of course cotton. I love trying new fabrics and techniques.
A: My turn around time is dependent upon the difficulty of the quilting you are requesting and by how many quilts I have ahead of yours. I will do rush orders for an increased fee, but only on items that do not require a lot of special attention. We will decide on an approximate due date when we discuss the commissioning of your quilt.
A: I am the only one that runs my machine and I am the one that will quilt your quilt top for you. I try to keep myself from getting backlogged or overwhelmed with commissions. I do not want my customers to have to wait any longer then I would expect to wait myself for an item this important. I also take down very detailed notes on every commission request I get so that I understand what it is you expect in your quilt. I enjoy getting the "story" behind your quilt and working with you to make sure that your quilt will turn out exactly the way you want. I feel that you've invested a lot of time and emotion into your quilt and I try to provide a very personal service to you, I feel that one on one contact is the best way to do this. One on one contact also ensures that we understand each other concerning the finishing of your quilt.
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Francie's Fancies
Lexington, North Carolina For pricing info please click here: Order Form E-mail address Military, Law Enforcement, EMS and their
Contact me about the quilts you are donating to charities. If my machine isn't spoken for, I may quilt your top for free.
This page was last modified on Monday, January 23, 2012 10:10:02 PM Find me on Facebook.