Quilty Crimes Friday!!

Welcome back to Quilty Crimes Friday!!  I'm sure you all are just sitting on the edge of your chair wondering what the heck is she going to come up with this week?  WELL.....how about NOT HAVING THE 4" of fabric that your machine quilter has asked you for on your backing?  Ever wonder why?  Let's talk about it, shall we?

 I've found a couple of PERFECT pictures showing a backing that I worked with a while back.  Take a close look at this photo.  You see the red on the upper right side of the photo?  That's where the backing my customer gave me ended. Notice where the batting and the quilt top are laying on it?  Most likely less than 2" from the edge of that red backing. I've added the blue fabric extending the backing making quilting possible.

Let's address the comments on the photo one at a time....

See how the machine is hitting the system?   At this point I am stitching as close to the top of the backing as possible.  My hopping foot is actually hitting my loading system.  I lose approximately 1" - 1.5" just by attaching the backing to the frame.  

Leader - One side of this canvas material is attached to metal bars on my frame with the other used to either attach to your backing or my loading system.  (Loading system later..)

Stitching Line - See the yellow thread????  That is the ABSOLUTE closest I can get to the end of your fabric with my machine.  Notice how far it is from the end of the fabric?  I am down to at least the 2" - 2.5" mark on your backing, subtract that from the 4" that I've asked for, I'm only working with 1.5" - 2" extra fabric at this point.

Loading System -  This is how I attach a backing to my frame.  There are a few different systems, but this is my method.  When I began longarm quilting I used very, very long pins to attach the backing to the leaders.  It was MISERABLE!!  No only was I continually sticking myself with those long pins, they would snag my shirt or even poke me in the tummy as I was working on the quilt!!  OUCH!!  Not fun!!  One of the greatest advantages to using a loading system is time, Using this system has cut the loading a quilt time by half or more.   As an added bonus there are no more chances of me getting my blood on your quilt from being poked by the pin.

SplittingStitches Longarm Quilting - Oh wait...that's me!!  On to the next photo........

I know, I know, you are thinking.   Hey!!  That's the same photo!! Right???  Well, it kinda, sorta is.  I've zoomed on the hopping foot hitting the loading system.  I can't in a million years get any closer to the edge of your fabric than that point.  It's metal hitting metal.  AND click on that photo...see how far that yellow stitch line is?  I've used 2" of your backing and I might have 2" left.  Not really all that much extra to work with.  You've gotta trust me on this one, the other end looks the same.  

SEE???  See where those 4" are and how they are used on the top and bottom of your backing at my house?  AND that is AFTER the backing has been squared!!  We'll get into that squaring the backing thing in another post. Most machine quilters have some sort of loading system, it just makes our live easier.  Check with your machine quilter about what they use and how it affects those very, very precious 4" of fabric that we are looking for when working with your backings. 

This weeks Quilty Crime, not giving your machine quilter at LEAST 4" on the top and bottom of your quilt!  Makes the job more difficult for us, and don't you just live to make us happy?  (haha!!)

If you are still with me, I want to mention this is the top and bottom of your quilts.  In a later post I'll explain why the 4" on the side are pretty important also, just hang in there with me!!

That's it for today!!

thanks for checking on me....
hugs...

joanne


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