Omi’s Custom Quilting

Hand Driven Quilting Services – For a Custom Result

Longarm Quilting

Omi’s Custom Quilting offers longarm quilting services. We currently run a Gammill Classic Plus longarm with a 26 inch throat on an 11 foot table. All work is hand guided, offering the ability to easily customize designs to your specific quilt.

Preparing your quilt for quilting

We ask that you bring us your quilt as a separate top and back (we carry multiple backing options for purchase, including wool, cotton, bamboo, and 80/20 blends in black and white, but you are welcome to source your own). Your backing must be larger than your top. We prefer that it be at least 10 inches bigger that your quilt top, meaning if your top is 60″ x 70″ we need your backing to be 70″ x 80″. If you have extra fabric, you don’t need to cut it off, we’re able to just roll it onto the machine and it’s not in the way. We request that the edges of your back are straight to facilitate the loading process.

We also ask that you check to make sure that there is minimal ‘fullness’ in your borders and your quilt is as square as possible. In extreme cases, when your quilt is not square, it can lead to wrinkles, folds, or waves in your quilt top. A quick check to see if your quilt is fairly square is to fold it in quarters and see if the outside edges line up well. Or, you can take a square edge such as a ruler or piece of paper and place it on one of your corners. Alternatively, you can lay your quilt flat on the floor. If there is a wrinkle that you seem to chase around the outside edge and can’t get to lay flat, then you’ve got a bit of a fullness problem. We are always willing to help correct problems such as these. Please give us a call at the shop to schedule a time to visit.

Please press or starch your quilt so that there aren’t (m)any wrinkles and the seams lay flat. When you bring your quilt in, we will hang it on a hanger to keep any further wrinkles from forming. If you would like to bring your quilt in on a hanger, we will make sure that your hanger is returned to you when you pick up your quilt.

Batting

We carry Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 blend black batting, unbleached Hobbs Tuscany cotton, white Winline bamboo, and unbleached Hobbs Tuscany wool. All battings are 96″ wide.

Pricing

We price our quilts by square inch and any additional services needed. There is no additional charge for thread or color changes. Our all-over patterns we call ‘edge to edge’ and are defined as patterns that start at the top edge and are the same over the entire quilt. Edge to edge designs begin at $0.022 per square inch. More complex edge to edge patterns that may require ruler work or templates will take more effort and thus have a higher price per square inch. Custom patterns start at $0.05 per square inch and go up from there depending on the complexity of the pattern. To quickly estimate basic edge to edge quilting costs multiply the quilt length in inches x quilt width in inches x .022. Sales tax of $.0825 will be added to that total.

Potential/optional additional costs

Occasionally, people ask us to assemble backs or fix borders. These are services that we can perform for a fee. Please note that all of these services are optional.

  • Backing assembly is $10 for a simple assembly (less than 30 minutes) and $25 an hour for complex back assemblies (greater than 30 minutes).
  • Centering a quilt horizontally on a back is $20. This is a complex process and is not guaranteed to be perfectly aligned. A quilt can usually be centered relatively easily vertically.
  • Quilt preparation (fixing borders, pressing seams, trimming excessive threads) is $25 an hour with a minimum 1 hour charge.
  • The non-cotton backing surcharge is $20. Non-cotton backings such as fleece, minky, or snuggle fabrics are excessively stretchy and warrant careful watching to ensure that there aren’t any folds or tucks. They can create difficulty when loading and may take extra care in pattern choice.

We are always more than happy give guidance in any of these areas if you’d like to learn!

Custom Quilting

We do offer custom quilting at this time. All custom quilts must make an appointment with the longarmer to discuss the pattern. All custom work is hand drive. Please call us at 512-417-9008 to schedule your appointment.

Things to be aware of

We at Omi’s Custom Quilting value our professional reputation very highly and will treat your project as though it were our own. 

If you would like to make any changes to the quilting pattern, thread(s), etc., that are noted on the contract, please let us know as soon as possible. Once work has begun on your quilt, any changes made by you will be made at your additional expense. You will be charged for time spent to prepare the quilt for the changes which you are requesting. There will be a $40 per hour charge for preparing your quilt for your changes, including the removal of any or all the stitching already completed. 

If you loan your quilt project for public display or enter it in a show, please give the courtesy of crediting Lori Balkum as the machine quilter. 

We at Omi’s Custom Quilting are more than happy to help you decide the quilting pattern, design, and thread choices for your quilt. If you leave the pattern, design, and thread choices up to us, please understand that YOU have made that choice. As professional longarm quilters we will execute our choices to the best of our ability. 

It is your responsibility to ensure that your quilt is square and flat. If your quilt is not square and flat, it can lead to tucks in the quilting or needle breaks over thick seams. We will do everything in our power to prevent these things from happening, but there are some things that fall outside our control. We are happy to give advice on how to avoid these problems. Please contact us for more details. 

Our Guarantee: If there is a problem with the quilt for which we are responsible, you must let us know within 72 hours of receiving your quilt. We will use every reasonable means at our disposal to make it right. If that is not feasible, Omi’s Custom Quilting will issue a credit for the cost of quilting labor only. Backing and batting NOT be included in the credit. The credit is the maximum liability of Omi’s Custom Quilting and THIS GUARANTY SUPERSEDES ANY AND ALL GUARANTIES IMPLIED BY LAW, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES FOR MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. The credit is redeemable for ninety (90) days for the issue date.