MamaBear61

Yes, if you allow an extra 3-4 inches of backing on the top and bottom you can get the whole quilt without turning the rails around. I had one baby quilt that my backing had no extra and I had to turn it around to get the last little bit of quilting on the bottom. This is not a huge problem as long as you have someone to give you a hand and enough space to turn the rails end for end in your quilting room. I have made up to queen size and by the time I get to the end the takeup rail has enough quilt on it that I end up with about 6 inches of quilting space, but that is still 1/2" more than I had on my conventional machine.

littlehud

I love the idea of putting a casing on the leaders. I just hemmed mine and have had them come loose. I'm making some like yours before I use the frame again. Great suggestiong.

MamaBear61

Hi Patti, the casing seems to work great, the leaders don't slip in the track, once they are in they stay put and I put permanent markings on mine for the center and a pinning line so that when I go to load I just line my top and backing up to the pinning line and center it on the leader and everything should be square.

Sadiemae

I used the megaquilter and inspira frame before buying my longarm. Yes you can do the whole quilt. With a large quilt by the time you get to the end you don't have a lot of space to quilt in, but you can do it.

lhavelka

Thanks so much!! That is good to know.

pstoner

Yes, I learned that from another member here. She did the same thing. And it worked so much better this way than using all the rollers.

franie

My Grace frame--the newer one--came with leaders. They are attached to the rails with strong industrial Velcro. On my older Grace, the leaders did attach to the tubing of which you speak. But once the leaders are loaded on the tubing, it was fine. But I prefer the velcro attachment on the rails. And yes you can do a whole quilt on a mid arm.

lhavelka

This is a new Imperial frame made by Grace and sold by Viking. I would prefer the velcro. Well I am going to buy the material and make the leaders with the casing and insert the tubing into the casing and once it is in there it isnt coming back out. LOL!!! Wish me luck!!!

BKrenning

Sounds like way too much work to me. I just used painter's tape to tape my leaders to the poles then pinned my backing & top to the appropriate poles on my B-Line frame. When I switched to the ProFlex frame, I decided to use sticky back velcro instead of tape but the tape laid smoother so I'm thinking of pulling the velcro off and going back to tape. Once the leaders are on, they never come off unless you decide to make different sets for different sizes of quilts. I marked my leaders every 6 inches so I can keep everything square no matter what size quilt I load.

I know a lot of folks like to put zippers on their leaders then baste or sew another mini-leader with the matching zipper on the backing fabric. That way they can unzip a little to check the backside or fill the bobbin or completely unzip to load a different quilt. Sounds like a really cool idea but again--too much work to sew on the zipper for lazy me. I keep my t-pins in the leaders so they're always ready to load.

lhavelka

I want the easiest way possible which is why I am also not going to use the other two rollers. Zippers are not for me either. Thanks so much for everyones help.