leader cloths
 

Can someone tell me where I can find leader cloths for quilting frames?I saw some one time that was red and white and had the inches marked on them.I can not find them anywhere now.Thanks in advance.

I believe HandiQuilter sells them.

I bought mine just recently from here (http://stores.longarmconnection.com/...vas/Detail.bok) and also bought the zipper system.

I purchased mine from HandiQuilter- probably any of the long-arm quilting machine dealers have them available....'Gammil, HandiQuilter, Nolting, Gracie, APQS, Tin Lizzie' I know there are dozens more. some Joann Fabrics carries the marked canvas to make your own too.

You can make your own with any heavy fabric like duck or canvas. I would recommend preshrinking because if you ever have to clean the leaders later, they will shrink ALOT. And don't even try to spot clean them if the are not preshrunk, because you will get spot shrinking and rippled leaders (voice of experience here).

I ordered mine from the gracie frame company same place i bought my frame

Got mine from Nancys Notions but have not installed them yet. Also bought soft rulers that start in the middle and measure out to the sides.

I think Grace also has them.

I just (yesterday!) purchased pillow ticking for my leaders and ordered zippers as well. The reason I'm going with home-made leaders is because I'm quite short and I wanted a longer leader on the take-up roller than was available as a pre-made marked leader.

Debating on whether I want to pre-wash my ticking or not ...

On the plus side of pre-washing is that it will shrink and I won't have to worry about if I ever need to clean the leaders later they will be shorter and the zippers will need to be removed and re-sewed ... etc. But I really don't know if I'll NEED to wash my leaders. I don't eat, drink or smoke in my long arm room ... so can't imagine a reason to wash.

On the plus side of NOT pre-washing is that I'm using striped pillow ticking and at the moment is straight and has that stiff sizing on it. I know from experience that when you wash stripes (even wovens) the straight of grain doesn't stay so straight. I may lose the benefit of the stripes.

So ... I'm sitting here thinking about it :)

Oh ... if you do buy pillow ticking for the leaders, make sure you buy enough length to fit your long arm. My frame is 84" and I'm installing 72" leaders so I bought 2 1/8 yards (the 1/8 is in case I decide to pre-wash).