LME Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Need some expert advice. I\'m just starting to quilt for customers and I\'d like to know how you all return the quilt to the customer as far as trimming the excess batting and backing after taking it off the machine? Appreciate the info, LeAnn:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LME Posted March 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 I have no idea how the "poll" thing got attached to my post. Does anyone know how to remove it? LeAnn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeoldeforest Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Advice I was given was trim 2 to 3 inches from the quilt top to the batting. I other words leave two to three inches of batting along the edges. Different quilters add their binding using different methods. You can also ask your customer. My first customer did not want me to trim her batting...she specialized in squaring and adding binding to quilts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 My customers do not want me to trim off even one inch of excess....many of them bring up the backing and use that for the binding...and many want the left overs for scrappy quilts that they later will do... I just quilt the quilt and then fold it as is into a bag and off to delivery we go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 LeAnn, I don\'t think you can remove the "Poll" thing...there are 3 choices - oops - you just hit the wrong button - no big deal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nora123 Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 I don\'t trim. Sometimes a customer will need extra backing fabric for whatever reason. My customers seem to like it when I don\'t trim. Less work for me. When I do the presentation I just fold everything under. Hope this helps. Nora Millennium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Well, from the group of customers I have had, I always ask them if they\'d like me to trim the quilt for them. So far, all of them have said Yes, please! If they say yes, then I do it. I haven\'t charged them for this service as it probably takes me 5-10 minutes or so to run the ruler around and square the cormers. Plus, it looks so nice and presentable when they see the quilt for the first time. I think first impressions are everything. If you can make it look really nice when they see it for the first time, that really is a good thing! So, I say, ask the question. Some will not want you to trim, and some will want you to. Just ask. If the scraps are under 2 inches and have all the thread end bobbles in it, I throw that away. The larger cutting scraps that are not too skinny (reusable for other things), I put all of their scraps; backing fabric and batting scraps in the bottom of the bag to take home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 I don\'t ask and I don\'t trim. I hang for presentation and then I ask if they would like it trimmed on my big table. Usually they think that is a great idea. I would never trim without asking and always return batting and fabric scraps to the customer. I also include the empty batting bag if they have provided the batting. That way the people who document their quilts have all the info at hand. How exciting for you to be starting this adventure! Good luck on your journey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katydids Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 I always ask if they are a new customer, most say yes to the trimming. My regulars know that I do it and if they don\'t want it trimmed, they will tell me ahead of time. I always give them back the trimmings too. I think it makes for a much better presentation. I have even had customers bring me a quilt that "someone else" had done for them and it wasnt trimmed and ask me to trim it for them. That is when they bring ME their next quilt! Just the smallest amount of "extra care" you give to your customers keeps them coming back! But definately ask first . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LME Posted March 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 All these things were what I was wondering about. Trimmed looks so much tidier. And I surely want my finished quilting to look "wow". It seems so untidy to present the quilt with all the blob hanging over. I certainly understand the person who wants to square up on their own and make their own decisions, I would. I guess you\'re advising me that however the customer wants it handled is the way to go. Oh....so much to learn. Keep it comin\' love the advice, thanks LeAnn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmwife Darlene Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 LeAnn thanks for asking this question because I was wondering the exact same thing! I appreciate all the advice also! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewlinzi Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 I ask first then - either trim the scruffy batting back to about 2" all round or some people like me to run my overlocker all round then they dont have to rush and put their binding on! LINZI x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merryjo2003 Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 I love the look of a trimmed quilt, but my customers usually don\'t want me to trim. They have plans for the left overs! There is one elderly lady I trim for. She usually has me attach the binding and I trim so she can hand sew the binding without any more work. She loves to piece and hand sew, but doesn\'t like to do the quilting or attach the binding. Works for both of us! I attach most of my bindings with my millie before I remove the quilt. I\'ve gotten pretty good at it and it\'s quicker than sewing it on with my DSM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcck00 Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 I trim two inches out from the edge of the quilt and fold up all of the trimmings and give them back with the quilt. I like the way a trimmed quilt presents, and my clients can decide what to do with the leftovers. I don\'t trim if they have indicated to me that they will be doing the fold-over binding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattyJo Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 I also trim my quilts and give back all of the strips of fabric & batting. I have never had anyone object, in fact just the opposite. One quilter (when I first started) gave me a $10 tip for trimming and squaring up her quilt and said that her old quilter never did that for her and she was very appreciative. Of course if they say don\'t trim, I won\'t, but so far everyone has wanted me to trim it for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernview Cottage Aust Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 I trim all my quilts, the form I complete when customers leave their quilt has it written on the bottom that their quilt will be trimmed unless they request otherwise. That way I don\'t need to worry about remembering to ask them if they wanted it done or not. I have only had 1 customer who didn\'t want it trimmed and she was adding very wide binding. I think it looks heaps better, expecially any quilts that have full borders etc, once trimmed they are hardly noticable. All my customers love it as they can bind immediately. In the beginning I thought about trimming 1-2 inches outside the quilt top, but decided that doing that wasted the customers backing fabric, if they were planning on using the offcuts for another project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarieBrewer Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 When I took a class from Jamie Wallen, he said don\'t trim. You run the rist of accidentally cutting the quilt. I thought it was good advice. I trim only if I\'m asked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 I wouldn\'t trim a customer quilt. I would worry about the quilting coming undone before the binding is put on. for you trimmers out there do you all run a stay stitching around the edge to avoid that problem? I am very careful after I trim and put my batting on to no over-handle the quilt so that none of the stitching comes out. If I notice it is starting to work loose then I run a basting stitch to lock all the freshly cut edges down. I\'m curious if anybody else has that problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsbishwit Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 I trim/square up all quilts unless the customer requests other wise (with all knew customers I explain that I trim all quilts unless they say otherwise) So fa all of my customers love that I do this at no extra fee. Most of my customers are either elderly or living in smaller homes that don\'t offer them alot of space to trim the finished quilts. Also since most of them all older they would rather not get on the ground to properly lay out the whole quilt to square them up properly. Another advantage for my customers is that once the quilt is returned to them they can skip a process and go straight to adding the binding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katydids Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 Heidi, I usually trim about an inch from the quilt top so I don\'t cut through any of my quilting. I tell the customer to sew their binding down before they trim off the rest so that the stitches don\'t come out. I have only a few that want it trimmed right at the quilt and they know to be very careful. When doing pantos, I do try to keep all stitching off the edge to a bare minimum (within 1/4 ") to reduce the risk. For me personally, I like to trim it to 1", put the binding on first and then trim it evenly, so that you get a full binding when turned over and handsewn. Patty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 Patty, That makes perfect sense to me. I know how to treat the edges if they are cut and I am very careful but I don\'t think most people are. I try really hard to end the panto too but for some reason it never really work just right. I think because I don\'t measure up far enough and the width may vary a little. Does that make sense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busybee Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 I trim off the edges. It makes it more presentable and neater. I do tell them that I square and trim off edges. If they don\'t they will tell me. Most like it because it is a freebie. They know its square. The remains goes into a bag and given back to them for patch work quilts in future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlin Posted May 8, 2008 Report Share Posted May 8, 2008 I too trim all the edges by the request of my cusotmers. However they all want the scraps back for other uses. From the responses here to your question asking first is good advise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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