I recently heard that some longarm quilters use zippers to put the quilts on the frame. Do you use zippers? Do you like them? Is it faster? How do you use them? Where do you get them?

I just pin to my leaders. zipper sounds faster but you still have to attach the quilt to them and get it centered. Some may find zippers faster but I'm a beginner so any way I do it , it will be slow LOL

I pin to the leaders.

I have a Gammill long arm. When I purchased the machine, it came with a set of zippers. I also purchased another set at the same time. The only instance in 3 years where I have had to 'unzip' the quilt to put another one on, was in an emergency rush job. Normally I would say it was not necesary to buy them and just attach the quilt to the leaders. Either way you still need to measure the fabric and mark the center of the leader to make sure that you get the quilt on evenly.

I just pin mine to the leaders which are attached with velco but, I just ordered a set of Red Snappers!!! I am so anxious to try them on the next quilt (which may be next week).

I am a pin to the leader, but interested to know about the red snappers!

I got it at http://quiltsonthecorner.com/

Youtube video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdESb8_p5ec

Thank you for that, I am thinking that would be a great addition to the system.

I pin to the leaders and then sew basting stitches across the top to hold the whole sandwich in place. I hate getting stuck by pins so after basting I remove the pins. I have extra leaders so if I need to remove a quilt I can just slip one set of leaders off and slip the next set on...hasn't happened yet so you can probably get by with one set. I never thought the zippers looked all that time saving but those Red Snappers look interesting, I know several people who have purchased them and seem to love them.

i (wish) i had the zippered leads, it (seems) like it would be faster to just machine baste the quilt & backing to the leads then zip them onto the frame...
but i have regular leads so i pin...
next time i need leads though i am thinking i want the zippered ones...but it will be awhile before i need new leads...

Love my zippered leaders, no way would I go back to being without them.

I pin!

Can you buy leaders somewhere? I have a gracie frame that was given to me but I have no idea about how to put my quilts on it.

Zippers are fantastic for new quilters. Your quilt is always centered. Do a search on long arm leaders. The heavier material ones are the best. The cheap material gets out of shape quickly and is hard to work with.

zippers, and I use them. It is nice when you have several quilts.

I pinto the leaders and it Works for me.

I do one quilt at a time, so pins work for me.

I pin at the top and again at the bottom of the backing. I use the QuiltTak for the bottom of the quilt top as then I can get closer with my quilting than I could with pinning.

I baste my quilt top and backing at the top of my quilt before I begin quilting with the machine.

ali

I just pin. I'm a beginner on a lovely little Pinnacle Frame with a Janome 1600p riding on it. I don't think I want to complicate matters by adding zippers to the mix just yet:)

I just bought a set of leaders from SewingMachinesPlus.com. Grace Co. makes them from sturdy canvas and they are already marked with center and inch lines. Mine came with velcro to attach to the EMT conduit poles on my Tin Lizzie (Hinterberg) frame. They were $89.95 with free UPS Ground shipping. Not cheap, but much better than the homemade ones I received with my Grace NextGen frame.

Thank you, I will be buying them & trying to learn how to put the quilt on the frame. Will probably have lots of questions when I start.

I started using zippers several years ago. I've also purchased a blind hem stitch machine to put them on the zippers. It saves me SO MUCH TIME!

I started using zippers several years ago. I've also purchased a blind hem stitch machine to put the zippers on the quilts. It saves me SO MUCH TIME! I have a Gammill with the Statler. While I'm quilting one, I can be sewing zippers onto several others, cutting out the time it takes to pin/unpin between quilts. With the blind hemstitch I just pull a string and the zipper comes off in seconds. However, I usually wait to remove zippers until I've inspected the back thoroughly. If I have a problem, run out of thread or just need to take the quilt off for any reason, I just zip it back on when I'm ready and it goes back to where is was.

I do not have the zippers, but I recently wished I did. I started a pantograph that I did not like, so I had to pick it all out. If I had had the zippers, I could have just simply unzipped the whole quilt and picked out as I sat in my recliner watching TV.

Ditto, love mine also, hated the pinning and getting stuck all the time. So much faster and no pain and blood, LOL

I LOVE my Red Snappers. I used to pin, went to Velcro now have Red Snappers

I took zippers off my new to me A-1 and use Red Snappers. I love them.

I use the Red Snappers and love them. Several of my friends purchased them after seeing mine.

I love my Zipper System. I purchased the 144" long Zippers from Jessica Schick at http//:www.digitechpatterns.com. I have the sets on my machine plus 3 extra sets. I can switch projects easily when needed or put on a practice piece to check something out. I staple the backing fabric to the zippers with a speciality stapler that crimps the ends to the outside instead of the inside of the staple. When you are finished you just pull and the backing comes off the zipper then you just pick the staples out of the zipper.

We use zippers. Wouldn't go back to pinning at all...much faster than pinning to the leaders. Saves a lot of time when you have many quilts to do :)

Christine

Pin...was the only way when I started......and just don't see any reason for zippers...just an extra step as far as I am concerned. But, I must say, I will have to reline my leaders edges soon, they are getting bowed and the pins have a tendency to break the canvas and now it is getting thready.......

Sorry, I can't answer to the zippers. I pin my backings onto the canvas, takes about 15 minutes for a king size quilt, then I bast the batting and quilt top to the backing.