Help! Which way do leaders roll?
 

Hi all. Trying to figure out which way leaders roll on a long arm. So far I have the take up rail 1 rolling under. Rail 2 is over, rail 3 is under.
Does this sound correct?

I'm sorry..hope I explained it well. New at this ;)

Tyia

I went through the same dilemma. I float the top, batting and backing, though, so they are actually only attached to the take up roller.

You will want a flat surface for the actual quilting. In my case, the leader on the take up rail pulls the backing, batting and top under the roller. The floated sandwich then rolls over the top of the 2nd rail, kind of like a waterfall. That gives you a flat (or very near flat) surface for quilting.


Happy quilting!

what frame do you have? The Grace frame I had worked differently than the HQ frame I have now.

I too am new to this, but after watching a lot of Youtube videos on how to load quilts, I see it depends on the quilt frame. What kind of frame do you have?

Here are some helpful videos for several different frames:

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...ilt+on+a+frame

Thank you all for replying.

I have a Majestic frame and after watching numerous tutorials I kept going back to the one by Leah Day. Got it up and running with some "scrap" material to practice with. It's a lot of fun!! I am also floating my batting and top but did secure my back.

I started quilting last May and I truly love it as I never had a hobby before. I am all in!! I love the sewing machine (previously I have never sewn a button!) material, threads..notions I love every bit of it. I got very lucky when the mother of a friend was selling her LA..Baby Lock Crown Jewel...

Cheap.

My husband surprised me for Christmas. Do you know I cried when I saw it? Lol. It's been intimidating me since but tonight I've made some headway!

Thank you again for your quick replies..I figured out the loading part.

Happy quilting!

I kept getting mixed up which layer goes to which roller on the belly bar side so i wrote on both ends which layer goes on it. I mostly float my top and batting but also attach the backing to both rollers and then use magnetic bars to hold it down on the belly bar. I added small knobs to my magnetic bars as they were hard for me to get a grip on them when I needed to remove them to advance the quilt. I've also dropped them on my foot once or twice too. When not in use I keep them on the rolling drawers under my frame separated by 3-6 inches apart as they are very hard to separate if they come together. Just had to pull 2 sets apart and it took some time to do it but finally got them apart. Wish I had a better place to store them where they can't come together but all my walls are filled with pegboard, bookcases or something.

I'm looking into the Grace start right quilt clips. I love the idea of securing quilt that way.

I'm scattered all around my finished basement. Feel a little bad that I've pretty much taken over the space. Not too bad though lol just a little.

I have an old model Grace frame, it's the Little Gracie II. I don't use it often enough to remember which way to load it so have my handy cheat sheet near by. I have also purchased the Grace start right clips but have only used them a couple times. I think I prefer to attach the fabrics to the take up rail and only use the clips to secure the rest. I've actually contemplated selling the frame since I don't use it much anymore.

There are good videos on U Tube and on the HQ site.