FAQQs

Frequently Asked Quilting Questions:

How do I reserve a date to get a quilt quilted? Contact me to ask for the first open date or tell me when you will finish the quilt top and we will book a date for it then. I quilt full time 4-5 days a week.

How do I choose the quilting? Go to the Photo Gallery and slide show on my website and browse through the photos to help you decide what type if quilting you would like on your quilt. Check out my blog: marciascraftysewing.blogspot.com In the sidebar of my blog, I list links to my posts about “Getting Up Close to My Quilting”. Look through quilting magazines, browse the internet, and then we will work together to create the best quilting for your quilt.

What is free style quilting? I manually move the quilting machine to stitch on your quilt, to create a special design just for you – No computers, no patterns or stencils. I just move and stitch wonderful designs all over your quilt.

Can I mail you a quilt top to get it quilted? Yes, but book your date first please. Marcia Wachuta, 41826 County Road W, Boscobel, WI 53805

How long does it take to get a quilt quilted?
First you book your quilting date. Mail your quilt, so it is in my quilt shop at least one week before your date. I will quilt your quilt on the day you booked or the day after that. I quilt full time 4-5 days a week and I try to keep a very tight schedule, but sometimes life happens!

14 years ago, when I first started my long arm quilting business, I decided that it was important to have a quilting schedule and be able to tell a customer when I can quilt their quilt. So that is how I do it and it works!

Do I have backing fabric? I carry over 20 Extra Wide Fabrics. Send me an email and I will send you photos of the Extra Wide Fabrics I currently have in stock. You can purchase it by paypal or credit card via email or you can mail me a check. I ship out the fabric in less than 24 hours – priority mail!

Can I buy backing fabric from you and quilt it myself or take it to another quilter? Yes!

What size should my quilt backing fabric measure? It should be 6 inches bigger on all 4 sides. That’s 12 inches longer and 12 inches wider. I need the extra fabric for rolling and clamping.  I will give you back the extra fabric.

What if my backing fabric isn’t large enough? Go to my blog:  marciascraftysewing.blogspot.com  and search “Short Back” to see a simple way to add on strips to make it larger backing. Here is the direct link to that post:  Short Backing Fabric

Do I have Batting?
Yes. I carry Hobbs Batting – a premium quality batting.
100% cotton batting – white
80/20 cotton/poly batting – white, cream, and sometimes I have black
Poly batting – white
Thermore – Extra thin poly batting – white
Washable Wool – cream

Can I send my own batting? Yes. Pull it out of the bag and flatten it out for me.

Would I quilt a yard or two of fabric for you, so you can make a quilted tote bag?
Yes, I quilt fabric for bags and other quilted items.

I also quilt fabric for comforters. Using the extra wide fabric on both sides makes a great comforter. One of my customers selected white for one side and cream for the other side. She wanted a king size quilt/comforter for her guest bed. She makes quilts of all sizes and the king size quilt makes a wonderful back drop to display her smaller quilts one at time. She chooses the cream side for some quilts and the white side for others. She also did a two sided binding, so that the white side is all white and the cream is all cream.

Can I have you do the embroidery binding on my quilt?
Yes. My customers love to have me do the all machine embroidery bindings for them. When they get their quilt back it is completed and ready to use or give as a gift.

I noticed that you stitch “Marcia” on your own quilts. Can you stitch my name and the year on my quilt? Yes, I can stitch words and numbers and many other free style designs. It’s only 10 cents a letter – like engraving!

How many colors of quilting thread do I have?

I carry over 150 colors of Perma Core – a premium quality Poly Quilting Thread. It is amazing how many different reds, blues, yellows, greens, oranges, and purples there are to choose from. How about just plain Purple, or Power Purple, Wild Violet, Lilac, Amethyst, Wine Plum, Grape, Lavender, or Orchid?

What is your favorite color? I love all Blues. My favorite is a soft blue called Chambray. Chambray reminds me of a soft denim shirt.

Do I take photos of all the quilts I quilt? Yes. I add them to the photo gallery. Sometimes, I have to wait to put them up if the quilt is a surprise or a gift for someone. I take photos of customer’s quilts in my quilt shop or I lay them out on the guest bed if they are really big or I need a natural lighting.

How much does it cost to have a quilt quilted?

I want to explain it in a simple way – but it is not simple…

I do “free-style quilting”, which means I manually move the machine to make a personal design with the stitches on your quilt. These designs are everything from simple to very complex such as: swirls, spirals, meandering, stippling, feathering, stars, hearts, butterflies, leaves, flowers, and anything else you can imagine. No two quilts will look the same with Freestyle Quilting! You get an amazing final product!

I quilt on a Gammil Long-Arm Classic Plus Regulated Stitch Quilting Machine, making every stitch the same size. I quilt nice and neat and evenly. I have quilted over 3000 quilts of all sizes and shapes, since 2003. I quilt full time – 4-5 days a week.

I do estimates for specific sizes – Just email me. Marcia@markn50.sg-host.com

I am very blessed to be able quilt full time. I love my job!

This is what I do:

I handle your quilt with tender loving care.

I press the top and the back again before I quilt it.

I repair any missing stitches before quilting.

Along with you, we choose the perfect design and thread color and batting.

I quilt nice and neat and evenly.

I clip all loose threads from your piecing and from the quilting.

I trim your quilt, so it is ready to bind.

I offer the service of binding your quilt with an all machine embroidery binding.

I do what my customer requests.

Every quilt is unique and the prices are reasonable for unique free style quilting.

Here is a listing of the ranges of prices per square inch for Ribbon Quilting and Meandering.
Meandering can be with or without a Twist. A twist is a flower, star, leaf, or other design element with the meandering.

Extra Large One Color Ribbon Quilting and Extra Large Meandering is 2 3/4 cents a square inch.

Large One Color Ribbon Quilting and Large Meandering is 3 cents a square inch.

Medium One Color Ribbon Quilting and Medium Meandering is 3 1/4 cents a square inch — This is most selected style of freestyle quilting!

Medium to Small One Color Ribbon Quilting and Medium to Small Meandering is 3 1/2 cents a square inch.

Small One Color Ribbon Quilting and Small Meandering is 3 3/4 cents to 4 1/4 cents a square inch.

Smaller One Color Ribbon Quilting and Smaller Meandering is 4 3/4 cents to 5 1/2 cents a square inch.

Small to Tiny Meandering or stippling ranges from 5 3/4 cents to 8 cents a square inch.

The ranges of prices per square inch for Overall Swirls.

Starts at 3 1/4 cents for Extra Large to 6 cents for Small Swirls.

The ranges of prices per square inch for Paisley Swirls.

Starts at 3 cents for Extra Large to 7 cents for Small Paisley Swirls.

The ranges of prices per square inch for Overall Waves.

Starts at 3 1/4 cents for Extra Large Waves to 6 cents for Small denser waves.

Special Area Quilting:

Feathering in a border or in blocks depends on the size and the density.

Overall Feathering – depends on the size and the density.

Quilting special areas and on individual blocks depends on the design choices and the density for the quilting and areas.

Outline Quilting varies with the detail of the applique’ pieces and density of the quilting.

Wiggle Line quilting starts at 3 1/2 cents a square inch and depends on the density.

Zentangle Quilting in each square depends on the size of the blocks and detail of each pattern.

T-Shirt Quilts start at 3 1/4 cents a square inch for a large overall meandering. T-shirt Quilts with large meandering and simple outlining on each block around the words and the photos on the t-shirts starts at 3 1/2 cents a square  inch and up.

Photo quilts depend on the detail of the quilting.

So in conclusion most quilts would need a specific estimate to determine the pricing for the free style quilting that the customer chooses.

Here are some links for examples:

The Passage Quilt is from one of the Wordless Wednesday Posts. It is an example of Extra Large Meandering with at Twist  2 3/4  cents a square inch. Click on the title under the photo to see several photos of this quilt.

Extra Large One Color Ribbon Quilting: Click on the link under the photo to see more photos Ribbon Quilting, including Two Color Ribbon Quilting.

An example of Overall Swirls is this Green Quilt. These are about 3 to 4 inch swirls in diameter and smaller swirls and the pricing on this quilt would be approximately 3 to 4 cents a square inch depending on the density of the quilting you select. The link under the photo takes you to my blog post containing several photos of this quilt.

Another Example of Over All Swirl Quilting.

All of the posts on Getting up Close with my Quilting will show you many examples when choosing the free style quilting. Here is the link to all those posts:  Getting Up Close to my Quilting

There are also tons of quilting photos in the Photo Gallery.

Sometimes people think it costs a fortune to have a quilt quilted, but I like to stay in an affordable price range. And that is why I have only raised my prices a couple times in the past 16 years! Prices are subject to change.

I hope this helps to figure out the pricing… as I said, it isn’t simple, but it the best way for me to figure pricing for my customers. I do estimates for specific designs and sizes just for you.

Order Form — It is printable to mail with your quilt

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Funny Questions:

Why do you take so many photos of your dog?
Whenever I take photos of my own quilts, I spread them out on a white sheet on the floor and Gabby thinks I am there to give her some attention. She loves to be the center of attention.

Do you really dream about quilting?
Yes, I really dream about quilting…. I machine piece quilt tops in my sleep. I write patterns and wake up and write them down. Sometimes they are good and sometimes they’re not!

One night I had a quilting nightmare… I awoke very upset. I felt like I was choking. My husband asked me if I was OK? I said, “yes,” as I rubbed my mouth and throat, “I was dreaming that I swallowed a whole quilt!” We both laughed! My husband brings it up once in a while and we just laugh….

I am sure most of you are not surprised that I dream about quilting, as I have a one track mind!

What does a quilter do on Friday nights?

Do I save little fabric scraps? 

 

Also to take you to all my posts titled Sunday Scraps, click here.

Again thanks for the email questions… keep them coming. Marcia@markn50.sg-host.com

If you need them answered right away, just let me know, otherwise I will answer them on FAQ’s on some Fridays on my blog.