Longarm quilting is the process by which a longarm sewing machine is used to sew together a quilt top, quilt batting and quilt backing into a finished quilt.
A complete longarming system typically consists of a sewing machine head, a frame, a table with a layer of plastic (under which is placed a pantograph), and several rollers on which the fabric layers and batting are attached. The longarm sewing machine frame typically ranges in length from 10 to 14 feet (3.05 to 4.27 metres), and the head is industrial length, 19 to 30 inches (48.26 to 76.20 centimetres).
Quilting using a longarm machine can take significantly less time than quilting by hand or more traditional machine quilting methods. This time saving is a large factor in the gain in popularity of longarm quilting.[1]
