BLOG - Longarm Quilting FAQ's

Longarm quilting is such a niche area to work in - lots of people are fascinated by the process and the machines so I thought I'd share some commonly asked questions with you all today!

1. What exactly is longarm quilting? While I'm sure most of you are familiar with what longarm quilting is, for the beginners out there it is the process of finishing off your quilt top by layering it with wadding and backing fabric and stitching some fancy designs to secure those three layers together!

2. Can't I do that on a normal sewing machine? Well, yes and no! Smaller quilts are definitely doable on your normal domestic sewing machine, but once they start to get to a certain size it becomes next to impossible to work the quilt through the throat space of a domestic machine. Not to mention the difficulty of basting all the layers together using basting spray and/or quilting pins! Hard work...

3. How much does a longarm cost? A lot is the short answer! There are quite a few different brands of longarms available in Australia, including Handiquilter, Bernina, A1, Nolting and Gammill and you'll find most of them start around the $25,000 mark for the base model. To add a computer on to that setup you can be looking at that much again! You can definitely pick up cheaper ones second hand and given they are industrial machines, that are designed to last a very long time, this can be a great way to get into the market.

4. How long does it take to longarm a quilt? This varies a lot, but can be anywhere from a couple of hours for a small quilt through to many days for a large custom quilt! The average time for an edge to edge design is between 4-6 hours for a double size quilt.

5. What kind of thread do you use? I use many different brands of thread including Wonderfil, Aurifil, Glide, Isacord and So Fine! These can be different weights (fun fact - the higher the number on a thread the thinner it is!) so if I want the quilting to show a little more I'll use a thicker thread. For blending slightly thinner. For traditional quilts I like cotton thread with more of a matte finish. A bit of shine from the polyester threads looks great on modern quilts!

I hope this has given you a little insight into the longarm quilting machine! What questions do YOU have?

Happy quilting,

Lyndelle xx