I have a Gammill long arm. When I purchased the machine, it came with a set of zippers. I also purchased another set at the same time. The only instance in 3 years where I have had to 'unzip' the quilt to put another one on, was in an emergency rush job. Normally I would say it was not necesary to buy them and just attach the quilt to the leaders. Either way you still need to measure the fabric and mark the center of the leader to make sure that you get the quilt on evenly.