I have done large quilts with and without the slider. It is a big help to have it. It makes the area where you are actively quilting and moving the quilt much slicker and the quilt moves a lot more easily. Some folks who have their machines dropped into tables use a silicone spray for sewing which they apply to their machine beds and tables. I have tried this and it works pretty well, but it has to be reapplied frequently (at least for my machines/tables) and I worry about overspray getting into the oiling holes on my PQ1500s and VX560 which are the two I use for most of my fmq, so I prefer to use the slider.
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