First, I should specify that when I say "quilting," I mean the topstitching, or the attaching of the front, batting and backing together. Piecing refers to sewing or piecing the blocks of the top of the quilt together. Quilting can also be used to refer to everything involved in making a quilt, but in circumstances when you're distinguishing between piecing and quilting, it's important to remember the difference so that you don't get confused.
*Note* These tips generally don't apply to rag quilts. If you're looking for direction on those, ask somebody you know who has done one or consult an internet tutorial aimed at this topic. There may come a day when I will have such a tutorial, but today is not that day.
Quilting
The first thing you should think about is what method you're going to use to quilt your quilt. You basically have 4 options:
1. Yarn tying
2. Hand quilting
3. Machine quilting with your sewing machine
4. & Long-arming
Keep in mind that if you're using a cotton (or mostly cotton) batting or any other natural-fiber batting, you usually can't have more than a 5" square unquilted, otherwise it'll get lumpy when you wash it or over time. Battings often come with some instructions and they will generally include the maximum area that can be left unquilted.
1. Yarn tying is also another well-known/traditional quilting technique. It's probably the easiest, but a lot of people don't like the way it looks. This method involves using a needle to thread a thin yarn through the quilt and then back through to the top again. The yarns are then all tied. People generally do this in a more-or-less grid pattern, but you could spice is up a bit if you wanted. Just keep in mind the minimum distance your batting will allow between connectors. You'll want to try to find a yarn that doesn't unravel particularly easily.
2. Hand quilting is relatively self-explanatory. This is what most people think of when they think of quilting. Like yarn tying, this method is nice for nervous beginner quilters because you're totally in control of what you're doing and again, mistakes are difficult to make, but when they are, they are easily undone. It generally looks better than yarn tying, but it takes a long time. There's a reason people have invented new ways to do this.
Basically, you're going to use thread a needle and hand sew through all the quilt's layers. You'll want to use a temporary spray adhesive (like 505) or safety pins to keep the top, batting and back connected to each other while you do this. You can use hand quilting thread (a good brand, like Mettler), embroidery floss or a very very thin yarn (like Clea). People generally follow patterns or seams so that the quilting isn't very noticeable, but you do what you want. Do keep in mind whatever the minimum distance allowed between stitches is for your batting.
This method is manageable for baby quilts, but it can be a bit tedious and difficult for larger quilts.
3. Machine quilting on your machine. Whether or not this is a good option for you depends mostly on your machine and the size of your quilt. If you have a higher-end quilting machine with a deeper throat (the area between your needle and the "computer" of your machine on the right) and a smaller quilt, this is probably the way you'll want to go.
Most machines are capable of sewing straight lines through a quilt, which is good if you just want to "stitch in the ditch" (basically, just sew along your seams) which is usually the least noticeable type of machine quilting. You can also do cross-hatching or anything involving straight lines. whatever design you want to go with, you will need a "walking foot." A walking foot is just the foot you use for machine quilting. As with all feet and machine accessories, you need to buy a walking foot that's the same brand as your machine.
You can also do free-motion quilting on some machines. Your machine will need to be able to drop its feed dogs and most machines that are meant to be used for quilting will have other features like a deeper throat and automatic tension adjustments. You'll need a free-motion quilting foot for this.. This is decently difficult at first for most people, but most people seem to catch on to it after some effort. I would definitely suggest trying it on some scrap fabric before you try it on an actual project. Essentially, you'll be drawing, but with your machine. Instead of the feed dogs pulling your fabric back, your feed dogs will do nothing and you will move the quilt with your hands. You can move it side to side and forward and back. People usually just do some kind of meander/squiggly design. If you're thinking about going down this road, I would suggest looking at pictures and videos of people doing this or projects that have been quilted like this to give you ideas as to what designs you could do. If you know a more experienced quilter, they might be able to help you figure out what you're doing.
4. Long arm quilting is by far the easiest and usually the most aesthetically pleasing option. A long-arm quilting machine is essentially just a giant sewing machine made specifically for quilting. They're very large and expensive, but actually relatively easy to use.
The best way, in my opinion, is to find somebody who will let you borrow or rent their long-arm. This, however, isn't very likely. Long arm machines are very expensive and the owners usually don't like letting just anybody use theirs.
The most likely way that you'll be able to get your quilt long-armed is to take it to a professional long-arm quilter who will quilt it for you. You can find long-arm quilters in any business listings your city has. You can also inquire with any quilters you know, do a search on the interweb or ask anybody at a quilting store. Pro long-armers often leave their business cards with quilting stores to hand out and sometimes the quilting store will have a long-arm quilter and somebody who knows how to use it.
If you're going with this option, it's really important to contact the quilter before you buy your batting or backing or thread, because they may have rules regarding what you can use. You'll be able to talk to them about what sorts of designs they can do and what this would cost. For a meander or something fairly basic, 2 cents/square inch is fairly standard, as far as I'm concerned, but your quilter's rates may vary from that depending on their skill-level and experience and even how soon you want it done. To figure out the cost per square unit just use this formula (width x length x cost/unit). So, if your quilt is 80" x 100" and the rate is 2 cents/square inch, then you would do (80 x 100 x .02) and get $160. Additional costs may apply if you do not supply your own thread or batting.
Also be sure to ask about the waiting time. A month or two is fairly normal, but the three or so month before Christmas are especially busy and the waiting time may be longer. If you want your quilt done by a certain date, make sure to have it ready to be quilted well in advance. Some long-armers will allow you to reserve a space in the waiting list before your quilt top is even done, so contact long-arm quilters well in advance so you know what to expect. Quilters will sometimes do rush orders, but additional charges may apply. Even if they normally do rush orders, in the month before Christmas or during any other busy time, they simply may not be able to do a rush order for you.
Longarm quilters usually require about 4" extra on each side for the batting and backing. That means that your batting and backing need to be 8" longer and wider than your top. Your quilter may have different requirements, so be sure to ask. They will also usually require you to have all of the edges of your backing and batting be as straight and even as possible. If these edges are uneven or crooked, your quilt may not turn out well unless they trim it properly for you, which will usually induce additional charges. Quilters also often have preferences as to what batting and thread you use or will provide these for you. Some quilters, for example, won't take the really fluffy polyester batting or won't quilt a quilt with a minky backing.
Since long-arm quilting machines start at $10 000 and can cost upwards of $50 000, I'll assume that anybody reading this isn't going to be willing to buy one, but, of course, that's an option as well. If you had your own machine, you could quilt your quilts whenever and however you darn-well pleased. You could also rent out your machine or do machine quilting for others.
Backing
I generally do not suggest buying your backing until your top is finished. I say this because sometimes you'll want to make your quilt larger once you actually get it made up and see how big it is.
Always make your backing a little bit bigger than your top. Just do it. Don't be stingy or you'll regret it later when you have to trim part of your top so it's the same size as your back. Again, if you're having your quilt long-arm quilted, make sure you know how much they want the back to be larger than the front. 4" on each side (for a total of 8 extra inches) is usually good enough.
The easiest way to get a backing for a larger quilt is to buy double-wide backing which is usually about 108" wide. This is generally also more cost-effective. Most quilt stores will have some of this, but the selection won't be nearly as good as in the 44" wide fabric. Sometimes you'll find something that will work and sometimes you won't.
If you have a quilt that has at least one side smaller than 58", you may want to consider any 60" wide fabric the stores have. You'll mostly find minky, but some stores have some 60" quilter's cotton. Minky is soft and great for baby blankets and lap quilts. I generally don't suggest using minky for quilts above a lap size though because it does stretch quite a bit. Some long-arm quilters also won't accept minky, especially for larger quilts.
If you're stuck using 44" wide fabric, don't worry, that's what most people typically use, even though it's not as easy or cost effective. If you're worried about cost, check out discount sections. If you can find something there, it'll help a lot. If at least one side of your quilt is 40" or smaller, then you only need one strip, but if it's larger, you'll have to piece your backing, which isn't a big deal because you pieced your front and it turned out just fine. You'll have to use basic math skills to figure out how much fabric you need. Drawing a diagram usually helps me. If you really just can't figure it out, ask a quilter or mathematically gifted person you know to help you. Workers at a quilt store can often help you figure that out, but not always.
Some people use a 1/2" seam when piecing their backs because all the stress put on the back is put on one or two seams instead of on a bunch like on the front. I've never seen somebody's backing come undone, but it never hurts to be safe and it usually won't make a difference size-wise.
Batting
For batting, the most common is 85% cotton/15% polyester mix, or something along those lines. This mix is what quilting stores generally carry and they will often be called cotton batting, since they are mostly cotton. A misconception many customers and even quilting store workers have is that quilts should use 100% cotton batting. This is completely untrue. The only time you should use 100% cotton batting is if you're making microwavable potato bags or some such thing. The reason you want a bit of polyester in there is that 100% cotton batting falls apart incredibly easily. If you used 100% cotton batting, you couldn't have any more than 2” square unquilted, which would a huge pain on most quilting projects.
As for brands, Warm and Natural is very popular and I like it. I usually use Hobbs though, because I like it just as much and it's usually cheaper. Warm and Natural is good for table runners and other small projects because it's thinner and will lie much flatter. Your local quilting stores will probably have their own brands. Just let the store worker know what you're doing and that you'd prefer a "cotton batting" or if you want to be specific, you can say 80/20 or 85/15 cotton/poly batting and they'll be able to help you. It really comes down to what you want. The only thing I really caution you against is using 100" polyester battings, simply because they don't breath as well and if it every catches on fire or heats up too much for whatever reason, it'll melt, which is way more dangerous than just catching on fire because it can get stuck to your skin.
Trimming
After your quilt has been quilted, you need to trim it. This just means cutting away the excess backing and batting using your rotary cutter. The straighter the better, but the binding will cover up minor imperfections.
Binding
Binding is the thin strip around the edge that covers up the raw edges of the quilt. To figure out how much binding you need, you need to find the perimeter of your quilt (width + width + length + length) and divide it by 40" (or whatever the width of the fabric you're using is), round that number up to the next largest whole number and times that number by 2.5" (or however wide you want your binding to be). For example,if your quilt is 80" x 100", you need 22.5", so you should get .6 metres or 2/3 yards. It's a good idea to get a little bit extra.
If you have 2.5" extra on each side (which you probably should have) then you can get your binding from your excess backing once you've trimmed it off.
This is how to figure out binding if you're using quilter's cotton. This is usually what you'll want to do. I would never suggest using any sort of bias tape or poly/cotton pre-cut binding because poly/cottons generally are not nearly as good of a quality as quilter's cotton. Binding takes the most wear of any of the parts of your quilt, so you may as well make it out of good quality fabric.
You can also bind the quilt by folding over the backing, but you can only do this on quilts if they haven't been long-arm quilted.
You can also use pre-cut satin binding. It's usually good quality and is already creased down the middle for you.
For instructions on creating and attaching binding, check out an internet tutorial, ask a quilter you know or take a class.
And THEN, your quilt will finally be finished.
If you have any additional questions or comments or think I missed anything or said something wrong or like my blog or hate it or quodlibet, just leave a comment.
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