FAQ's - Friday's Frequently Asked Questions

A Question from Monday's Post:  I love the wiggle line quilting! Do you set your machine on a serpentine stitch or do you just do it free-motion?    I manually move the machine to create unique and free style designs. I quilt professionally on a long arm quilting machine - A Gammill regulated stitch quilting machine. Some long arm quilters call it free motion. I use no patterns or set stitches. It is all free style moving the machine and stitching. See my webpage for more info www.craftysewing.com and the link to the photo gallery in the sidebar.

The wiggle line stitching can be done on a regular sewing machine too, with a walking foot or using a darning foot with your feed dogs down.

Are all the quilts on your blog yours?  Some of the quilts are mine. I share the photos of quilts made by my customers and myself to inspire others to try new styles of quilting either on your regular machine or a quilting machine.  
I also share the photos to help my customers choose the style of quilting they would like to have quilted on their quilt.  
With free style quilting the possibilities are endless!

This photo is my quilt and it shows wiggle line quilting in special areas with ribbons connecting the leaves and swirls. If you want to see more of my quilts - Click on the link in the side bar that says My Personal Quilt Blog.  I just started it and I add to it whenever I find new pictures.

Question from Tuesday's Post:  What do you mean when you say you used the quilt pattern to make the table runners?  I used the construction method from the Easy to Sew Quilt Pattern to make the blocks.  I squared them up and sewed 5 blocks together in a row and added borders for each table runner. 

How old are you?  I am 53 years young! But I feel like I am 43 most of the time, with the exception of later in the day when I get tired, then I feel more like 53!  I am very blessed to have an extra amount of creative energy that just keeps me going all day long! Want to know more about me and what I do?  The Thursday's Thoughts posts will help you to get to know me better also. 

Family, children, and husband?  Yes, Yes, and Yes. I am a mother of 2 adult children (29 and 27). Julie lives in Amsterdam and BJ lives in Prairie du chein, Wisconsin.  Ritch and I will celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary this September. 

I don't like this photo of me, but I think it is great of the rest of them!  Especially Ritch, because he is really smiling!  My family makes me smile!

Where did you go to school?  Starting with High School - Fort Atkinson, WI and Waupun, WI.  We moved while I was in High School.  This year it is my 35th Class reunion.  I am attending both school's celebrations. After high school I attended UW-Stevens Point where I earned a teaching degree in Home Economics.  I was a Family and Consumer Education Teacher at Fort Atkinson Middle School, before moving to Boscobel in 2002.  I started my quilting business in 2003. I took a few classes in Janesville to learn how to use my quilting machine and then I just kept quilting!  I started with sheets and just kept practicing!  In the first few months, I quilted quits for friends and family to really get the hang of it!

Do I ever rest?  (a recent question on Facebook)  Quilting and sewing is resting for me.  It is very relaxing to be sewing, quilting, and creating.  Sometimes I get frustrated when I have to stop to make dinner or go to the bathroom, as I don't want to stop!  YES, I love to quilt!

How do I reserve a date to get a quilt quilted?  Email or call 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 5 days a week.  

Email:   Marcia@craftysewing.com  608-872-2374  M-F 8am to 7pm CST

You can read all the posts labeled FAQ at this link: All FAQ's  It will start with this post, so just scroll down after you click on it.

Thanks for asking the questions...that's what blogging is all about ... learning and sharing with everyone.

Enjoy your weekend!

Marcia

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FAQ's - Friday's Frequently Asked Questions - Not in My Night Gown!

Since you work at home, do you ever work in your pajamas?  Yes!  I get up early and I am dressed and quilting before 8am.  But I have to admit there are mornings that I have quilted in my night gown til 10am.  On my birthday each year, I stay in my night gown all day, with the exception of my 50th birthday, as we had a big celebration, so I had to get dressed!


Because I work at home I dress very comfortably.  Recently I bought a wonderful Marcia Top from Heather another blogger, who sews for a living.  I quilt for a living, but I don't make clothes anymore.  You can check out her blog here and Heather's Custom Sewing Etsy shop here.  She has 4 Etsy shops and they are listed on her blog.  I received the Marcia Top yesterday.  I unwrapped it and I put it on right away!  I love it!  It is the perfect work shirt for me! I sent Heather the 100% cotton fabric. Cotton is so nice and soft. Heather did a beautiful job of sewing.  It is well constructed and very professionally made. I am sure I will order another one very soon, as I love it!

Remember I work at home alone, so I had to take the photos myself.  I know how to photograph quilts, but maybe not myself.  I told myself to smile and say cheese -- but it didn't help.  Now all of you out there who wondered what I looked like ... Here I am! Wet hair and all!

The neckline is straight. It is looks that way, because I have one arm up. Remember I am the photographer and the model too.

Nice side view of me!  Ha ! Ha ! I could be a model! I forgot to smile in this one!

I love the pocket!

Tonight I had my husband take some outside photos.  He's not a photographer either.  He forgot to tell me to smile!  It was only 60 degrees in Wisconsin today, so it was a bit chilly to be outside in the Marcia top!

Ritch thinks I look cute in the Marcia Top. I know he loves me!

I only answered one question today - Just felt like doing a fun one!  

Keep emailing the questions. Marcia@craftysewing.com

Don't forget to check out the Weekend Double Special in the top right side bar and the Bottom of the Page 1/2 Price Sale!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Marcia

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FAQ's - Friday's Frequently Asked Questions

What do you do in the evenings when you are not quilting or sewing or blogging?  
I package product, like note cards, mini quilts and extra wide fabric sample squares.  

When you own your own business your work is 24/7, so you really need to love all the aspects of the business.  

My favorite part is the quilting.  

My second favorite part is meeting with the customer to decide how their quilt will be quilted - choosing the thread, designs, and batting. 

My third favorite part is packaging the products. 

I set it all up on the dinning room table and organize it kind of like an assembly line, but it is just me to do each step.  I had pressed and rotary cut all the 5 inch squares days before.  I did not do it all in one day.  I am a multi-tasker, so when I need a break from quilting, I press a few pieces of extra wide fabric and then rotary cut them into the squares.  Once all the squares are cut, I am ready to package them. 

This is what I did on my "fun filled" evening last night... 

I carefully stacked one of each fabric, so that I had 30 squares in each pile.  I put them in the ziplock bag with a label and a business card.  Quilters order them on my website, so they can match up their quilt top with the backing fabric before they order it.  


Remember everyone can order fabric, you don't have to be one of my quilting customers.
  
I carry in stock 30 extra wide fabrics and I even sell to other long arm quilters.


Some of my customers order the extra wide fabrics for borders too, so they don't have to piece the sides for a long border.

Each sample package of 30 squares sells for only $4.00 plus $2.00 shipping.


You can also buy one 5 inch square for $1.00 that includes the shipping.


It is a great way to see if it matches your quilt top.

They are packaged and ready to go.








One night I packaged Mini Comfort Quilts for my online store.  


Wow !   I really have some exciting evenings!

These are the $3.00 Mini Comfort Quilts - available in 4 patch and 9 patch. 

And here are the 5 1/2 Inch Crazee Patch Mini Comfort Quilts and they sell for $6.00 each.

Both come with a printed message.

Why do I write a blog?


Monday's Post about wiggle line quilting inspired Jeannie from Quilting by Jeannie .  She is also a long arm quilter and she tried the wiggle line quilting and posted it on Thursday!  Hop over and see it.  It's great!  


And that is exactly why I write a blog.  I love what I do so much, I really want to inspire others to create!  


Thanks for the questions... keep them coming... Marcia@craftysewing.com


Have a great weekend!


Marcia

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FAQ's - Friday's Frequently Asked Questions - Seams in Backing Fabric, Piecing a Back, and What's Trimming?

Last week you said, "I trim your quilt, so it is ready to bind." --- What does that mean?   I trim (rotary cut)  the backing fabric, the batting, and the quilt top, so it is even all the way around.  About 99% of my customers want it trimmed.  If you don't, let me know.  Trimming makes it nice and straight and all ready to add the binding.  I also rotary cut the long strips of your leftover backing fabric and fold it up for you.  

If I piece my backing fabric with a center seam, how should I sew it?  stitch length?  straight stitch? zig zag ? or serge it? 
I prefer a small tight stitch (stitch length 12 or 1.8) straight stitch.  If you serge the back seam, you should change the stitch length to a smaller stitch.  Or serge it and then straight stitch it again with your regular machine.  Please don't  zig zag the seam, as it doesn't hold tight and the stitches will show.  Your stitches need to be tight, because I pin your backing fabric to the rollers and pull it tight.  You want your seam to hold and not have the stitches of your seam showing after it's quilted.  If your seam looks too loose like the photo, I will restitch it for you and bill you for doing it.  I want your quilt to look it's very best when it is quilted, as I know you do too!

 















See how the clamps hold the extra backing fabric tight in this photo.










Can I piece the whole back of the quilt and have a reversible quilt? Yes, as long as you stitch the seams with a smaller tighter stitch.  You still need to make it 12 inches longer and 12 inches wider.  Keep in mind that the 6 inches all the way around won't be on the back of the quilt.  I just need the extra fabric to pin and clamp, so I can quilt it.  Your pieced backing fabric needs to be straight and even - a perfect square or a perfect rectangle.  The backing fabric is pinned and pulled, so it may not end up being perfectly straight or centered.  I would suggest an overall quilting, so it looks great on both sides of the quilt.  Let's make your quilt look it's very best on both sides!


How much would it cost to have the whimsical fish and bubbles quilted just like the photos from Wordless Wednesday May 18th ?  2 3/4 cents a square inch.

 

 














Please keep emailing questions to Marcia@craftysewing.com  or  just leave a comment on this post.  I love comments!

Do you want to read more FAQs?
Click here for All the FAQs Posts
Last week Friday's FAQs How much does it cost to get a quilt quilted?

Still time to enter the drawing for the Double Double Quilting Giveaway 
2 prizes - 2 Winners  Ends at 6pm CST June 15, 2011

Enjoy your weekend!


Marcia

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FAQ's - Friday's Frequently Asked Questions - Quilting Questions

How much does it cost to have a quilt quilted?
Today I am going to just answer one question.
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 1500 quilts since 2003. I quilt full time - 5 days a week.  Booking a date for your quilt is explained  in the  Post of FAQ's- May20, 2011.

I do estimates for specific sizes - Just email me. Marcia@craftysewing.com
I am very blessed to be able quilt full time 5 days a week.  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 custumer 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 cents a square inch.

Large One Color Ribbon Quilting and Large Meandering is 2 1/4 cents a square inch.
Medium to Large One Color Ribbon Quilting and Medium to Large Meandering is 2 1/2 cents a square inch --- The most selected style of freestyle quilting!
Medium One Color Ribbon Quilting and Medium Meandering is 2 3/4 cents a square inch.
Medium to Small One Color Ribbon Quilting and Medium to Small Meandering is 3 cents a square inch.
Small One Color Ribbon Quilting and Small Meandering is 4 1/2 cents a square inch.
Small to tiny Meandering or stippling ranges from 5 cents to 7 cents a square inch. 

The ranges of prices per square inch for Overall Swirls.
Starts at 2 1/2 cents for Extra Large to 5 cents for Small Swirls. 

The ranges of prices per square inch for Overall Waves.

Starts at 2 1/2 cents for Extra Large Waves to 5 cents for Small denser waves. 

Overall Feathering - depends on the size and the density.

Feathering in a border or in blocks 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 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 2 1/2 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 2 3/4 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 is a listing for an example of a general estimate for a general quilt size for the 2 cents and 2 1/4 cent pricing.

Baby Quilt 35" X 45" = 1575sq inches X .02 = $31.50  and  1575sq inches X .025 = $39.37

Small Lap 45" X 65" = 2925 sq inches X .02 = $58.50  (2 cents a square inch)
  and 2925sq inches X .0225 = $65.81  (2 1/4 cents a square inch)
  and 2925 sq inches X .0250 = $ 73.12  (2 1/2 cents a square inch)
Lap 55" X 70" = 3850 sq inches X .02 = $77.00  .... I didn't calculate all of them....
Twin 63" X 87' = 5481 sq inches X.02 = 109.62
Double or Full 78" X 87" = 6786 X .02 = $135.72
Queen 84" X 92" = 7728 X .02 = 154.56
King  100" X 92" = 9200 X .02 = 184.00
I also do estimates for specific designs and sizes just for you.

Here are some links for examples:

The Passage Quilt from one of the Wordless Wednesday Post is an example of Extra Large Meandering with at Twist .02 cents a square inch.
http://marciascraftysewing.blogspot.com/2011/05/wordless-wednesday-passage-quilt-for.html

Extra Large One Color Ribbon Quilting on the link below - the first quilt and second quilt on that post are Extra Large Ribbon Quilting.  The second one is two color - so that would be 2 1/4 cents because of 2 thread colors.  Click on this link for more photos: http://marciascraftysewing.blogspot.com/2011/05/getting-up-close-with-ribbon-quilting.html

An Example of Overall Swirls is this Blue Green Quilt.  These are 3 inch swirls in diameter and smaller swirls and the pricing on this quilt would be approximately 3 1/2 cents a square inch.  More photos at Getting up close with my Quilting May 16, 2011.










All of the posts on Getting up Close with my Quilting would give you many examples when choosing the free style quilting. Here is the link to all those posts- http://marciascraftysewing.blogspot.com/search/label/Up%20Close%20Quilting

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 twice in the past 8 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.

Don't forget to enter the drawing for the Double Double Quilting Giveaway! 

2 winners and 2 prizes!  Please share it, tweet it, and blog it!   

Thanks!   Marcia

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FAQ's - Friday's Frequently Asked Questions - Why and How?

After a couple weeks of FAQ's I have found that sometimes I don't give enough information, when I answer the questions. 
Example:  Why I do something? or How I do something?

This was a previous question and answer.

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.

WHY?

Why does the backing fabric need to be so much larger than the quilt top? 
 I have to pin the top edge and bottom edge of your backing fabric to long rollers, so I need extra at the top and the bottom. And your fabric needs to be wider on both sides, so I can clamp three clamps on each side to hold it taunt.  I ask for more on the sides than most long arm quilters, because I do not want to bump into the clamps on the side when I am quilting, thus resulting in a zig or zag in my stitching lines.  See the next few photos.

There is more than 6 inches of backing fabric on the sides of this quilt.  If your backing fabric is larger, don't cut it off. Leave it on.  It gives me more room when I am quilting the borders without bumping into the clamps.  I give you all of your backing fabric back after I trim your quilt.   Most customers prefer to have me trim their quilt, so it is ready to bind, but I have a few who like it left long.

Previously asked question and answer.

What is free style quilting?  I manually move the quilting machine to stitch on your quilt - no computers, no patterns or stencils.  I just move and stitch wonderful designs all over your quilt.

How do you move the quilting machine?  The quilting machine has wheels and it rolls or glides in a smooth track in all directions.  I hold onto 2 handles one for each hand on the front of the quilting machine, but I only hold onto one handle with my right hand. I move the machine like it is giant pencil.  I use my left hand to smooth the fabric. There is not at gas pedal like a sewing machine. I push a run button with my thumb and then when I move the machine it starts stitching.  When I stop moving the machine, the stitching stops. Then I have to turn off the run button.  It is very different that a regular sewing machine.  I have made some videos and put them on You Tube that demonstrates how I run the machine.  Ribbon Quilting with a Twist video shows you best how the machine runs, but it doesn't show the stitching as the colors are too dark.  It was the first one I made. You can see how I hold the handles with one hand and I smooth the fabric with my left hand.  I think the video of outlining the veins of the Poppy shows you how moving the machine makes the machine stitch.  It goes a little slower and faster, as I outline the flower.

This next quilt is a great example of finding designs in the fabric and creating designs to fill the block.  My customer asked me to outline some of the designs and to fill the squares with repetitious patterns - Zentangle patterns.  Some patterns will be repeated, but they will all look different.  That's the cool part about free style quilting, it is "one of a kind" every time you quilt. 

There are more photos of Zentangle patterns or "Wachuta Doodles" in the photo gallery.

Enjoying May everyday!

Marcia

P.S. Don't forget to enter this week's  Giveaway ! 2 prizes again!

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