Hello again -

Something occurred to us when we were getting ready to load a quilt on our frame. We have a Pfaff 1200 GrandQuilter and Imperial frame. It takes longer for us to load the parts of a quilt on the frame and get it ready to quilt than it does to actually do the quilting.

We had a top that was finished and the sandwich was basted together with quilter's safety pins. We got it to that point before we considered buying the quilter, and thought we would quilt it on a sewing machine. We loaded it on the frame on the middle rail (where the quilt top would be), wrapped it around the backing rail, and attached it to the take-up rail. We have good tension on the sandwich; is there any reason we can't quilt this way? It is WAAAYYYY easier to load on the frame this way and we could get a lot more done. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks,

Darren

I quilted a basted quilt on a frame recently. I have a different frame than you do so I can't tell if it was loaded the same way. However, we did the quilting with no problems.

I think I would just go ahead and begin quilting that first pass. Check your stitches underneath when you get to the other side (or even before that if you wish).

Looking forward to seeing your finished product!

other than the pins maybe being a hinderance i would think it would work...i have a long arm and yes, some quilts take longer to load than the quilting takes...i have wondered about different ways to do it...maybe loading the backing and floating the batting and the top...but i am always afraid on wrinkles/uneven areas...basting with thread would probably be better, i'd be afraid of the pins tearing fabrics because of the tension on the quilt rolling it...but i say...try it out and see how it goes, maybe you will invent a new technique that makes things lots easier for lots of people :)

Hi Darren,
I have done this same exact way. It worked perfect.
I kept checking below to make sure my backing was getting any tucks. (It didn't)
You are right it is way easier.

Good luck

Thanks for the info. I have a bunch of quilts I sandwiched before getting my frame and I hoped to quilt them this way.

I'm not sure why you wrapped it around the backing rail unless you have a frame that loads "over the top" instead of "in the well" like most.

Anyway, to answer your question, Yes, you can quilt that way but be careful of the pins.

When you turn a quilt to do the side borders, you would do it like you described.

Thanks for all the quick replies. I have it loaded up and plan to try it tomorrow (Saturday). I should have specified that I plan to take the pins out of the section I am quilting as I go. I left the pins in just to keep everything sandwiched correctly.

Beverly -

I had to go over the backing rail because that's the rail that is parallel to the take-up rail. The sandwich wouldn't be level and couldn't be quilted if I didn't use the backing rail.

Darren

So if it works to have it basted by pins, couldn't you use adhesive basting spray to put the three layers together instead of having to load it the old fashion way? Has anyone tried this?

Which frame do you have or is it a home made frame?

Mine can be loaded either way. I have a Superquilter Proflex frame.

If you are loading a quilt on a 3 bar style frame either for machine or hand quilting--you don't need to baste it with pins or spray. The 3 bars keep everything square and taut while you quilt it.

I think Darren had all ready pin basted a quilt before he bought the frame and now rather than take out all the pins and load it properly on the frame, he wants to know if it can be quilted like it is.

When you have a quilt on the frame and decide to do the side borders with a different pattern than the center, many quilters will quilt the center & top & bottom borders then take the quilt off the frame and turn it 90 degrees so that the sides are loaded as top & bottom to quilt the side borders. Since most of it is all ready quilted, you can't pin it to all 3 bars so you only use 2--the takeup bar and either the quilt top bar or the backing bar. It depends on which frame you have.