Quantum Quilting
Quantum Quilting is a small quilting company that started in a quaint workshop near Titchfield Abbey, Fareham. They have outgrown the original studio and now have a bigger more modern studio off Newgate Lane in Fareham. Started by Keith and his late wife Shelley Faulkner who was passionate about quilting, Keith has kept the very special quilting company going.
At Quantum Quilting they do longarm quilting on a Handi Quilter Infinity, on a 12’ gallery frame, with a 26” throat. The machine operates with the Pro-stitcher program, which is a really powerful computer program with hundreds of designs and design options. This machine was the latest in technology and was introduced at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham in 2015.
Part of the upgrade to bigger premises has been the exciting acquisition of another Handi Quilter machine. This time and Avante, which also comes with the same computer program as the Infinity.
Services We Offer
Binding
We are happy to make and attach your binding for you.
We do the straight double binding. We can do binding to whichever stage you prefer, but please note that if we finish binding it is machine stitched down.
Basting
This is a service for hand quilters. Basting can be done to your individual specifications, which will ensure that you have a perfectly layered quilt for your hand quilting. The stitches are easy to remove and give you an easy reference to follow.
Wadding
We are happy to provide the wadding for your quilt and do keep some stock.
However, if you prefer to provide your own, that’s fine too.
Please make sure that the wadding you provide is at least 8 inches wider and 8 inches longer than your quilt top (4 inches on each side).
Thread
We stock a wide range of threads in both solid and variegated colours of the best quality. The cost of thread is normally included in the price of your quilting charges. There may be a small charge for unusual threads that we wouldn’t normally stock, but this would very much be an exception.
Delivery and Return of your Quilt
Backing Fabric
Please ensure that your backing fabric is at least 8 inches wider and longer than your quilt top. If you don’t have any backing, you can click on the link below to visit The Jolly Stitcher, who are also in Fareham, and able to provide a wide range of fabulous quilting fabrics for you to choose from. We can collect the fabric from them if you are not local.
We understand that time can be precious, so we are happy to prepare your backing for you and will join the backing in the most economical way for you, at a small charge.
Prices
All our prices are calculated on a per-quilt basis due to the size, fabric, materials needed and stitching required.
Please give us a call to get a quote on 01329 842666 | 01329 220031 or pop us an email on keithquantum@outlook.com
About Us
Quantum Quilting was started by husband and wife team, Shelley and Keith Faulkner who were passionate about their business. Most quilters can say that, and so could Shelley! When they realized that there wasn’t anyone in their immediate vicinity to do longarm quilting, the thought was born to combine Shelley’s passion, her desire to help others and Keith’s business acumen, into a business.
Shelley had been sewing all her life. Having belonged to many craft clubs and having a keen interest in most fields of needlework. Her passion, however, was in quilting. Her quilts have found their way to far-off lands, such as Canada and South Africa.
Originally being situated near Titchfield Abbey, now located near the Fareham sorting office off Newgate Lane, they are easy to get to from all directions.
Shelley passed away in October 2019 after a battle with cancer and Keith has taken over the running of Quantum Quilting.
Please feel free to call in and see him at your leisure to get advice and see where they are situated.
Awards
Quantum Quilting was so privileged to receive the Computer Guided Long-Arm Quilting Award at the National Quilting Championship Sandown 2018
Tips
Here are a few quilting tips that we have picked up along the way
When adding borders to your quilt.
When adding borders to your quilt top, there are a few things to bear in mind, that can impact on the overall finish of your quilt.
It is recommended that you measure through the middle of the quilt and making a strip that equals this measurement to add as a border. When attaching the border, find the centre point of the edge of the quilt top and the centre point of the border and pin these points together. Then find the quarter points and pin those and then the ends. Then pin between these points easing the border onto the edge. Now measure the inside edge and compare it to the outside edge. These should be exactly the same length.
It’s easier to adjust or repair the border at this point rather than once it’s on the quilting frame. This method prevents wavy borders and really doesn’t take more than 5 minutes extra, but will give you a wonderful finish.
Extra fabric in a border can be a real headache for a longarm quilter, as this fabric needs to be put somewhere and can add hours and hours to the quilting process, and is very difficult to overcome.
When joining strips for a border
When joining strips for a border, I recommend that if your strips are wider than 2 ½” you use a straight join, rather than a 45-degree angle join, because if you don’t sew exactly on the 45-degree line it also adds fabric to the outside edge of the border.
We recommend that you press your seems closed
We do recommend that you press your seems closed. There are two reasons for this.
The quilt is stretched when put onto the frame. If you have a loose stitch it can pull slightly open at the seam, and the wadding can beard through these tiny gaps.
The other reason is that should we be doing stitch in the ditch on your quilt, we will be sewing over thread and not on fabric. This means that your quilt top isn’t as stable as it could be, and your seams could be under threat.
Backing
Lots of quilters dont give their backing enough attention. It is such an important element of the quilt, as it is the piece of your quilt which carries everything through the quilting process. With a little thought your backing can transform an ordinary quilt into something really special. However, some quilts come into the studio and we can see that no thought has gone into what the back will look like. The edges arent straight and the fabric has been jaggedly hacked. We get sad looking at those quilts.
It is really important to make sure that
- There is enough extra fabric around the edge to enable me to attach the backing to my frame, and
- There are straight edges and the backing is square, or as near to square as possible.
We use the edges to align the backing when we’re attaching to the frame. If the fabric is cut crooked we can only use the fabric within its narrowest points.