Originally Posted by
QuiltnNan
i see that you use an iron keeper to keep your cords out of the way... what a wonderful idea!!! i've been having this issue on my frame and jerry-rigged a similar device with a string and stick... didn't work very well. i'll have to search for the iron keeper.
are your handles the same ones you used before the stretching? you mentioned on your blog about a homemade dead bar and the handles issue. what is a dead bar? is there a way to just tilt the handles more.... i'm just not understanding this issue. could you clarify it a little more, please. TIA
The one thing I hated about frame quilting was moving the take-up bar up as I was quilting. What a pain! The Dead Bar eliminates the constant height adjustment of the take-up bar. Basically....the bar closest to the bed of the machine is stationary and the one above advances the quilt.
Instead of using only one bar on the frame (take-up bar), you now use two under the throat of the machine. The “Dead Bar” doesn’t move up or down, its stationary. The take-up bar is moved several inches above the Dead Bar. The quilt standwich runs under the dead bar and gets attached to the take-up bar. The take-up bar will advance the quilt, but there is no longer a height adjustment. The height of the dead bar shouldn’t be that high off the bed of the machine. Once it’s adjusted to your “just right” height, you never have to move the take-up bar up and down again!!!
I haven't done any changes to the handles...............yet :-) I need to think of a way to extend the handles forward a bit...