There are many, many long-arm quilters out there and I have heard the term “quilting by checkbook” cleverly used by those quilters that hire long-arm quilters to do the quilting on their projects.
But how many of us have never used a long-arm quilter? I suspect there are quite a few. As for me, I had been quilting for many years before I finally decided to have someone else do the quilting for me. Part of it was a trust issue; but it was mostly not knowing how to go about hiring a long-arm quilter in the first place. Did I need to do something special to the quilt to get it ready for quilting? What if my piecing wasn’t great? What’s the difference between edge-to-edge quilting and custom quilting? How much will it cost?
About three and a half years ago, one of our members, Teresa Koster, discovered she had a real passion for long-arm quilting. So much so, she and her husband changed their retirement plans and bought a long-arm machine. She’s been going strong ever since with over 600 quilts completed! About a year ago, Teresa put together a brochure for her quilting business. In it, she answers a multitude of questions about what to do (and what not to do) before you take your quilt to a long-arm quilter, and what you should expect from that quilter. She covers quilt backs, batting, threads and even has a section on T-shirt quilts.
Teresa has graciously allowed us to use her brochure in this blog posting. While it is intended as an advertisement for her company, it is also a very good resource for anyone wanting to know more about long-arm quilting. You can see her brochure by clicking the button below. Feel free to save or print it so you can review it whenever you want.T KOS Quilting Brochure
Not all of my quilts are sent to the long-arm quilter because sometimes I like to try my hand at quilting my own quilts. But I have found that the quilts I’m giving away and that I know will get a lot of use (and/or abuse) are better off when they are quilted by a professional.
What have been your reasons for using long-arm quilters? You can tell us in the comments below.
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Thank you for “reissuing” Teresa’s wonderful information. I finally used “quilt by check” and I used Teresa for the work. It was wonderful. I still push myself to do my own quilting and deliberately limit the size of my quilts to be able to quilt them myself. But I am so glad that we have Teresa’s skill to fall back to when I can’t finish the quilting myself.
I’ve used several longarm quilters over the years with good results. Glad to hear how great Teresa is!
I learned something new! I did not realize that batting has a right and wrong side. Thank you very much for sharing Teresa’s brochure!
I use a machine quilter when I have a quilt too large for me to tackle on my regular sewing machine or I just don’t want to bother doing it myself. Teresa just completed a king-size double wedding ring that is absolutely beautiful!
I’ve been quilting for 30 + years and have used several different professional quilters. Teresa’s work is the very best I’ve ever used. I look forward to working with her in the future!
Peggy M.
I love Teresa’s work and value her professional opinion about pattern, thread and quilting density. She’s an awesome partner since I really love piecing. Sara H.
The option of quilting by check is a wonderful resource! I tend to use a long armer if the quilt is just too big for my domestic machine or if I have gotten tired of the quilt during piecing. I’m not a UFO quilter so having the option of sending a quilt for quilting out that I have simply lost any enthusiasm for is a wonderful option. How many UFOs are simply quilts the quilter became fatigued with while piecing it? Teresa is a delight – listens to my hopes, has wonderful suggestions, and turns quilts around in the speed of light!
From the other side of quilt-by-check, have actually done long-arm quilting for customers. I found it sometimes challenging and nerve-wracking to try to do what the customer expected! However it was always very rewarding when the customer was pleased with the final result! Now I stick to charity quilts because the “customer” is always happy. Nancy W
Teresa does wonderful work. She is the best long arm quilter I have used. Marilyn H