Some tips on how to make life easier for your commercial quilter:

• Clip all threads from the quilt top. Those stray threads can easily catch on the machine’s foot, requiring your quilter to stop and clip them as she goes. Sometimes they catch in a way that makes the quilter rip stitches to put it right. Nobody wants that extra work.
• Square up your quilt top before you drop it off. If you wait to trim until after it’s quilted, you may end up cutting off quilting you paid for.
• Make your back at least 3-4 inches larger that the top. That excess is used to attach to the machine’s rollers. It saves the quilter time (and you money) since they don’t have to baste on a strip themselves.
• If you have a pieced back, make sure you let your quilter know how you want it oriented to the quilt front.
• Decide what style quilting you want (minimal, heavy, traditional, modern, overall edge-to-edge) before you drop off your quilt. If you haven’t decided, be prepared to set aside some time at drop off to listen to suggestions with your quilter and make up your mind.
• Let your quilter know what your budget is. That will ensure you don’t get an unpleasant surprise when you get the bill. Many quilters can give you an estimate based on the type of quilting you want.
• If you know your quilt top has problem areas point them out to your quilter. They may be able to work them out.