Let’s talk about how to handle quilting the very bottom of the quilt, on a longarm machine, using best practices for the best results.

Imagine yourself here:

You loaded your very first quilt on your new longarm frame, attaching the pieces to the leaders, just like in the video. You basted across the batting and backing, stitching a perfect plumb line using channel locks. The quilt top was basted across the top edge using the plumb line for alignment. By doing this, you know that the top of the quilt is perfectly straight. The quilting is going so great! You feel proud and so smart that you bought a longarm machine! Imagining all the fun you will have quilting all your UFO‘s (UnFinished Objects).

But then you advance your quilt and you are at the very bottom of the quilt top. And it is attached to the leader. There’s something you had never thought about! How are you going to quilt to the very bottom without stitching onto your leaders?

Hi! I’m National Handi Quilter Educator, Mary Beth Krapil.  (that is me in that photo above looking so pleased with my quilting. Can you tell I LOVE it?) I’ve been teaching longarm quilting for 16 years. I love to share longarm techniques and the best of Handi Quilter products. I hope you’ll follow our blog each week for lots of fun, information, instruction, and inspiration. Follow me on Instagram @mbkrapil and on Facebook too.

What to do at the bottom of the quilt

Let me share with you some ways to deal with the bottom of the quilt, depending on what method you choose to load.

Why worry?

We all want our quilts to turn out flat and square. Your quilt top might start out great. Then you load it onto your longarm frame. If you’re careful and utilize the plumb line trick you can start out nice and straight. But then you start stitching.

Fact of quilting life:

Stitching draws up fabric. It’s a fact. Any time you stitch, whether it is quilting stitches, or seaming stitches, or embroidery stitches; those stitches will cause your fabric to shrink slightly. So we have to do as much as we can to mitigate shrinkage.

How to minimize shrinkage

1. baste the top using the plumb line trick

2. baste both sides as you work your way through the quilt

3. use your side clamps!!!! (don’t forget this one) Helps with shrinkage and prevents tucks in the backing fabric.

4. Don’t float your quilt top.

FLOATING flow’ ting  (verb) definition: to lay the quilt top over the batting on the frame and only secure by basting the top edge in place. The bottom edge is “floating” free, not secured by the leader.  I know lots of quilters float. I do not. Let me explain.

Best practice

When you make it to the bottom of the quilt, you want to make sure that bottom edge stays straight and true. Having the bottom edge attached to the leader ensures that the stitching cannot draw up the fabric from that edge as you work through the quilt. If you float, nothing is holding the bottom edge and those hungry stitches want to shrink up your fabric. That shrinkage will come from that UN-secured edge.

That brings me back to:

What to do at the bottom of the quilt

We need to baste the bottom edge in place to keep shrinkage at bay and to allow us to quilt all the way to the edge. We want to do it in such a way, that the bottom edge stays straight and square with the sides. Here are 4 different methods. Choose the one that works for the way you load your quilts.

1. If you pin

Let the pins hold the bottom of the quilt in place as you baste.

It is best to baste within the 1/4 inch that will get covered by the binding. That way you don’t have to take your basting stitches out. No one will every know they are under the binding. We need to remove the pins to get at that raw edge to do the basting. If I remove all the pins at once, the bottom edge will be loose and hard to control. So, I take out 2 or 3 pins at a time and let the rest of the pins control the rest of the edge while I baste, little-by-little.

Want to see what I mean? Watch this Handi Tip video to see how it’s done.

2. If you use rods and clamps

Here is an alternative method for those who use the rod and clamp systems for loading, like Leader Grips or Red Snappers. Removing small portions of these devices is not really workable.  Baste across the quilt 1-2 inches above where the edge is held in place by the clamps with long stitches. (Or you can use pins to baste across. You will remove this basting before you finish the last pass of quilting. So pins hold well and are easy to remove once they have done their job.) Then remove the bottom edge from the leader. The basting stitches or pins will hold your top in place so you can smooth the edge and baste within 1/4 inch from the raw edge. Once that is done, remove the first basting stitches or basting pins and you’ll be ready to quilt your last pass.

3. If you use Zippers

Another method many quilters use to attach the quilt to the leaders are zippers. These are long, separating zippers (as long as your leaders). One side of the zipper is permanently attached to the leader. The other side of the zipper gets attached to the bottom of the quilt top. Then you simply connect the zipper and zip the quilt top to the leader. You can learn more about this system here. The zipper cannot be removed from the quilt top easily without disturbing the placement of the top. So you’ll follow the same instructions as in #2 above. Baste 1-2 inches above the edge, remove the zipper and baste at the very edge, then remove the first basting.

4. If you Float

I know there are quilters out there who do float their tops. If you do, you’ll want to stitch a plumb line just below the bottom raw edge so you’ll have a nice straight guide to reference as you baste down the bottom edge of the top. Use your favorite channel lock method for the plumb line stitching. Then slowly and carefully baste the raw edge in place manipulating the fabric as needed to make it straight.

By the way, these techniques apply no matter how you are quilting, free motion, Pro-Stitcher, rulers, pantographs. You will have to secure that bottom edge for all those methods.

Do you have another way to deal with the bottom of the quilt? Please share in the comments!

by Mary Beth Krapil

Handi Quilter Watch and Learn

Be sure to catch the Watch and Learn video that premiers on July 16 on our Facebook page and our YouTube channel. It’s a full video all about dealing with the bottom of the quilt!

What to read next

Binding on the Longarm – How To

A Quilter’s Essential Toolbox