How (and Why) to Float Your Quilt Top on the Longarm
Traditionally there are two ways to load your quilt top on a longarm: on a roller bar or “floating.” Floating keeps the top loose, and there are both pros and cons to this technique. Let’s take a look at why I consistently float my quilts and why I recommend giving it a try.
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Confession: I started floating my tops because I didn’t know how to roll them on the bar. When I was learning how to longarm, floating looked easier, so that’s what I chose. Several years later, I still consistently float my tops because of the freedom it gives me in the quilting process.
What is Floating?
Floating your top means simply laying it over the loaded backing and batting rather than rolling the lower portion onto a leader bar. For both methods, I recommend using a straight line or a scalloped line to baste the top edge of the quilt smooth and square to the batting and backing before you begin quilting. This prevents puckers and shifting as you get started.
Are there any disadvantages to floating?
My biggest “complaint” about floating my longarm tops is that the top often drags to the ground with the batting. I simply kick the extra under the longarm out of the way while I work, but it does mean that I take extra care to keep the kids and pets away from the area to prevent stains or tears to the quilt.
The other potential disadvantage is that there is not tension on the quilt top as you work. Rolling the quilt top like you roll the backing helps pull wrinkles and small imperfections in the piecing snug. However, I prefer to massage these by hand as I quilt. (Read more about “Massage Quilting” to hide imperfect piecing HERE.)
Nota bene: If you are doing any kind of computerized quilting on your longarm, do not float your quilt tops as the subtle shifting of the top that can happen without a human at the helm with throw off the spacing of your motifs.
Why do I prefer floating?
There are two main reasons why I prefer to float my quilt tops:
First, it’s faster to load the quilt. One less edge to pin and one less thing to roll means I can get to quilting more quickly, and I’m ALL for that!
More seriously, I like the control it gives me. Sure, tension on the quilt top may pull some of the wrinkles and imperfections square, but it also limits how much I can manually adjust the quilt top as I am working. I love being able to lift the top up to remove stray threads from underneath, being able to get the top out of the way if I need to smooth or square the batting, and being able to finagle any wonky bits for massage quilting (link the massage quilting blog here too). Plus, leaving the top loose makes it easier to roll the quilt back and forth for more complex quilting plans, especially if you’re working on a machine with a smaller throat space.
(possibly a video here if I load a new quilt on the machine by next week)
Tips for Floating Your Quilt Top
Start by loading your quilt back and batting onto your longarm. Make sure that you have 4 inches or so of extra width on each side (I use this space for checking my tension-- learn more about that HERE). I like to tuck the very top edge of my batting just under the guide bar, then use a ruler to smooth and square the batting.
Press your quilt top to smooth all wrinkles and make your seams as flat as possible. To be honest, I’m not always as fastidious about this step as I ought to be, but it is helpful to help you spot any wonky spots that may cause trouble during quilting as well as generally make the top smooth for stitching.
Center your top on the frame a couple of inches below the guide bar/ top bar. Use this bar as a guide to position the quilt square on the frame, and use your ruler to smooth the top. Gently run your hand over the portion of the top that is in the “quilting zone” to make sure all seams underneath are lying flat.
Before you begin quilting, don’t forget to secure the top edge of your quilt to the backing and batting. You can either lengthen your stitch to a basting stitch and go straight across about ⅛” from the top or use a a “scallop” stitch to stitch in the batting just above your top and “bounce” down to the very edge of your top with a single stitch. As you continue to quilt your quilt, use your ruler throughout to smooth the top each time you advance the quilt.
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