Need longarm help
 

I need suggestions. I pieced a queen sized back with a long vertical seam, and I think that's why I'm having such trouble loading it onto the frame. I'm thinking of buying some clothesline cord and packing it into the roll to take up the fullness. Will that work? Any other ideas? My last resort is to take the zippers off and put them on the sides.

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I think moving the zippers and loading the quilt so that the big seams are horizontal is your best option.

I've just started longarming, but I wouldn't mess around with the clothesline. I would take the zippers off, turn it, and be done with it. From what I learned in class and have seen on this board, that extra seam bulk can really cause problems if you don't have the seams parallel to the roller bars.

I would also load it the other way. If that's not possible, you can put batting scraps into the roll to take up the extra fullness.

Dunster and jennifer23 have gave you very good advice. If the backing is square, when you first load the quilt, it makes it easier for the backing to lay flat if the seams run along the rollers instead of wrapping around them. After the quilt has some quilting done on it, it can be removed and reloaded (to do borders on what were the sides) with the seams wrapping around the rollers.

In looking at everything in your pictures it looks like your backing is loaded unevenly, so I would start with reloading it and seeing where that gets you. I too load my quiltbacks with the seams vertical rather than horizontal. Here is a great tutorial....https://youtu.be/sTwwkAI7YM0. If that doesn't work, then try reloading the back with the seams horizontal and if all else fails then the backing may need to be redone. Good luck, please let us know the solution you found!!!

The backing appears unsquare to me too ( though thosecenter additions may have ''taken up''. Forgetfiddlingw/stuffers, as you've not yet begun. Just turn it. You'll be glad you did.

I always load quilts with a seam parallel to the rollers, never the way you loaded it. If the back has many seams, I load it with the most seams or the longest seam parallel to the rollers. I agree with everyone else that your simplest and best solution is to reload it the other way and be done with it. Did you also remember to sew the backing seam with half inch seam allowances and to press them open? Makes for less bulk that way.

When I load a backing that has a vertical seam, I am sure to tug a little in the middle of the fabric around the pole and not too much on the sides. That makes the center snug and seems to work out fine for me, that is if the backing is square to begin with. My machine is on a 10' table so sometimes i am not able to pin the backing horizontally on anything over 95".

I'd reload it with the seams going horizonal,too--I've found that it saves a lot of headache! When there is a little bit of sag on the sides I will stuff a little batting between the backing and the belly bar--but you do have to be aware of it when you roll the quilt and check the underneath of the backing to make sure you don't get a tuck--so easier to just reload it.

Also--judging by the way the quilt on the bars is uneven, it doesn't look like it's a square backing.

One more tip: Sometimes when you load a backing one side sags. The easiest way to remedy that is to roll the backing back and forth a few times, all the way from everything on the takeup roller to everything on the bottom roller, keeping the backing taut the whole time. You'll see improvement each time you roll it until there's no more sagging. I don't know why that works, but it does. And I don't know why the sagging happens, either, but it does, lol.

If I can I load those with the seam horizontally.

I used to make my seams vertical too and I'd have that bump where the seams met as I advanced the quilt. THen I read to put your seams hortizonal as then your quilt should stay level as your advance. I still have a little trouble when I use leftover blocks in my backings but not as much as I used to. I try to place the blocks in various areas around the backing so it eventually levels out as I advance it.

Another vote for just turning the quilt.

If you can't change the backing to a vertical layout, you could try a small piece of batting on each end. The width of the batting should not be more than the circumference of the bar; keep the length manageable, 6-8 inches should be enough. The batting should be placed on each side at the bottom of the backing just as you start to roll it. This should provide enough "bulk" for the backing to be flat when you reach the top. Just make sure to remove the batting before quilting the last row to avoid getting it caught in the stitching. I also find that it's sometimes easy to stretch the backing while attaching it, especially if it's pieced. Measure the backing side-to-side in three different places, and use the average. Then centre this measurement and temporarily mark your leader cloth, line up your backing fabric, and attach. If there is too much fullness, the backing may need to be trimmed. Good luck.

I too vote for turning the quilt if you can. I did a quilt for a friend that had both horizontal and vertical seams and could not avoid this issue - for that quilt after rolling back and forth a few times I finally used batting scraps

I'd do this too - it has resolved the problem for me several times.

Also, one question I HAVE to ask - were the selvages removed before piecing the different parts of the back? Leaving the selvages in sometimes SEEMS like a good idea, but they really do mess up the tension and get the fabric out of square. If the selvages were left on the fabric, I'd remove them and re-piece these section. THEN do the "roll back and forth several times" thing... of course, once you remove the selvages, the problem may have been resolved.