5" additional backing on each side is important

A customer recently brought a quilt top for longarming but included backing that was only 2-1/2 inches wider on 2 sides instead of 5 inches.  I took photos to show why there is a need for 5 inches.

In the first photo below you might think this is plenty of extra fabric.  In the second photo you can see the bed of the machine is actually 1-1/2 inches beyond the needle area.  If the backing is too short, what will happen most likely, when the machine hits the clamps holding the backing, the needle will break causing damage to the quilt top.

The third picture shows that I was able to still use the short backing by simply moving the design farther away from the edge.  But as a result, I had to begin the stitching by tying a knot within the quilt body, something I try to do outside the quilt body when there is plenty of extra backing to do it.

Barn Quilt

 I painted a barn quilt for the front of my house.  My husband hung it for me this afternoon.  It's painted with acrylic exterior paint on top of an aluminum composite board.  It's my 3rd barn quilt.  The others are shown below...

I painted this one at a class held at Cary Quilting Company. It was a one-day class and the teachers, Deanna and Georgia, were outstanding!  Deanna's Delightful Barn Quilt Designs is the company that taught the class. They are located out of Clarkton, NC.  They travel to locations all over the eastern USA and if you have the chance to take a class I highly recommend them.

These are my other barn quilts...

1938 antique quilt

 One of our stops while on vacation over the weekend was in Texas near Austin. We visited my sister-in-law and on display was a quilt from 1938 that she found after her dad died last August.

It’s a quilt made by the members of a quilting bee called the Jolly Home Makers Club from Seligman, Missouri.  My mother-in-law was a member and she was 14 years old at the time. The block above says June Andrews and it’s the block she made for the quilt. It’s a queen size quilt made entirely by hand.

Under my needle

 I'm working on a beautiful quilt this morning, made by Christina S. It's a lovely morning, bright blue skies and sunshine.  We've had quite a few gray days lately, with rain that was badly needed due to our drought in North Carolina.

2026 Durham Orange Quilters Quilt Show

 Over 250 quilts will be shown at the DOQ show this year!  

Under my needle

 I've been longarming quite a few donation quilts for Sleep in Heavenly Peace-Durham.  This quilt is the last one for today.  SHP is a ministry my quilt guild supports.  They build beds for children who don't have a bed to sleep in.  Lowes donates the wood, volunteers make the beds and many people donate quilts, sheet sets, mattresses, etc.  My quilt guild held a quilt drive which will culminate on July 20th at our July guild meeting.

This quilt will soon be making up a bed for a deserving child at the end of this month.

Under my needle

 I have 7 quilts to longarm this week/weekend.  This is the one on my frame today!  It's a lovely Jelly Roll quilt and I'm stitching a design on it called Seamless.

Edit: Saturday, June 20th.  This is the first one on the frame this morning!

Perfectly

I found a fabulous new song, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!