Originally Posted by
Rhonda Lee
1. I've learned to secure the bottom of the quilt top, however, I've read about many who don't and float the quilt top. They state they have just as good if not better results. What have you found to be the best way to load your quilt top?
2. I have 17 inches for the sew zone. Do I need to adjust the pattern to handle the rolling of a king size quilt? How much room will I have in the sew zone towards the bottom of the quilt?
I'm using an Edge to Edge method with robotics.
Looking forward to your comments, I'm learning but still have very much to learn. Thank you.
I have experience with a midarm and an APQS Lucey. The Viking Megaquilter 1200 on an inspira frame was a challenge. By the time I got to the bottom of a full sized quilt, I only had about 4 inches of quilting space so I mostly just meandered. The Lucey has a 26 inch neck and has a leveler bar so most of the time, the roll of the completed quilt does not interfere with my quilting space. I love the Lucey. I usually pin the bottom of the top to the leader on the belly side of the frame....and then I baste the top to the batting and backing. I like doing this as it really seems to help me keep everything smooth and straight. I have only floated smaller quilts. I do not have robotics on my machine....I find I just like the simplicity of free motion quilting. I don't even do ruler work very often and most of the time, I just do an over-all design. Most of my quilts do not have the plain backgrounds that would show off the quilting....but I do love putting in little motifs as I meander my way across the quilt.