Day 5 of Klea's Quilting Class

Your quilt top is done and you're ready to take it to the long arm to turn it into an actual quilt. I'm Klea and this is day 5 of my quilting class where we've gone through every step of the quilting process from cutting to piecing to assembling the quilt top and adding a border. It's finally time to turn this work of art into a real quilt. First things first, you'll need your backing fabric and for a large quilt, my favorite hack from all the grandma quilts I know is to use a large sheet. This is actually a queen size duvet cover I found on Amazon and it's the perfect size because you want a 4-inch border left around your quilt top. That's because there could be shrinkage during the quilting process. And then it's time to trim your threads. Your long arm lady will be very specific about having your threads trimmed. Most of the time on the front because you don't want any loose threads getting quilted into your design. Make sure there aren't any dark threads on the back because they can peek through after it's quilted. And then you want to make any repairs if needed. And then it's time to drop her off. Be sure to ask your long arm if they provide batting or not. And then you'll pick your quilting design, which is always so unnecessarily nerve-wracking to me. I know the stars are just so cute for the fourth of July. And then you'll pick your thread color and then it's time to wait. Make sure to come back for part six where we'll pick it up from the long arm, see how it turned out and bind it. My girl is fast, so she says she'd have it ready in around a week.