Frequantly Asked Questions
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.
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.
Francie's Fancies
Lexington, North Carolina For pricing info please click here:
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This page was last modified on Thursday, February 11, 2010 03:45:34 PM