Can someone give me a website that has pictures or a video that shows how to put leader cloths on my frame? I am so scared to do it. I had a friend come over and show me how to prepped them but then she left saying she didn't want to responsibility of ruining them if we didn't get them on right. I don't care about messing them up. I'll just invest and buy another set. Help!

put them on with velcro.

put the hard side of the velcro on the pole and the soft side of the velcro on the leader.

That's what I did. Worked great. I got the industrial velcro from a home improvement store.

I would put a link but can't figure out how to do it from the iPad. There are several good ones on YouTube. Also some good ones on loading the quilt.

Thanks so much. I forget about looking at Youtube. My frame came with the little tubes and I can't get the leader cloth & tubes in them. I will look on youTube. Thanks so much for you guys input! It is appreciated.

this is the way i've done mine

On mine, I drew a straight line down the length of the bar with a sharpie. This gave me a line to follow when I put the hard part of the velcro on it.

Add the soft part of the velcro to the cloth leader. I centered this so I put it on in two pieces, each going from the center to the edge.

Once you have the velcro in place, you simply put the leader on the rod by aligning the center and going out to the edges.

I hope this helps you. It goes together pretty easily.

The previous post said to put the hard piece on the leader and soft on the pole. That is definitely better! I did mine the opposite and the hard stuff gets stuck to the batting as I am putting them on the poles. I wish I would have done it the other way.

Does the sticky velcro stick to the fabric?
I had read that you use the sew on kind for the fabric end and the sticky one for the rods.
A good tip also is to sew your quilt onto the leader with water soluble thread.
Have not done either yet.
My table has the groove with the tube insett. This dosnt take up valuable space on rod that is inside the throat. I made a pocket on muslin and sliped the tube thru it and then into the groove. But this is the only leader Im going to do this way, velcro for the rest. I sliped with the roller tool and almost tore off my thumb nail.
For my practice fmq I am using fusible spray and so far it is working very well and dont need any leaders except on the backing.

I used the sticky velcro on the fabric but sewed it down for permanence. What a good idea for the water soluable thread! I always pin mine to the leaders but your way would be so quick!

Thank you to all of you for your valuable insights. I just sanded, stained & assembled my grace frame. Planned to make & add the leaders this week. You gave me valuable information I shall use. Thank you for the info before I even asked, right on time.

Oh, that is a great idea!

If you take the actual leaders on and off the rail, how do you make sure it stays centered consistently?

On my machine, the leaders are duct taped to the pole, so the center never moves. I have zippers on the other side of the leaders. I pin or sew the back of the quilt to the zippers. I can unzip, hang the quilt to inspect. I also use this for the 'Stand and Stare' part of a custom quilting job, but only after the quilt has been stabilized.

I purposely try to not get pictures with the hanging rail in my pictures, so I had to go back a bit to find one with the zipper. The rail is on a pulley system, wrapped with fabric and the same side of the zipper as is on the machine. The other side is on the top of the quilt. When I first got the machine, I bought about a dozen 144" zippers, so I have lots of ways to use them.

http://wheatridgestudios.blogspot.co...rose-lane.html

I'm actually going to be replacing my leaders tomorrow, along with new rails and a major upgrade to my CompuQuilter. This should be an interesting project!

Mine are also on with duct tape but I have seen on YouTube where they use the Velcro. Just didn't want to change it until I needed to replace the leaders in the future.

[quote=Shelley]If you take the actual leaders on and off the rail, how do you make sure it stays centered consistently? [quote]

I have drawn a line with a Sharpieat the center of the leader and the poles so I can center it perfectly everytime.

[quote=cheryl222][quote=Shelley]If you take the actual leaders on and off the rail, how do you make sure it stays centered consistently? I bought my machine used and thats what the previous owner did. The marks are still on the poles which made it easy when I put the new leaders on a while back. Wish I had know about the velcro thing then.