Hi Everyone! Just got an Imperial Frame with the supposed to be easy load system with the tubing and tool to put your quilt on it. Well I cant do it by myself at all. The tubing is so hard to push into the grooves. Any suggestions? Should I just put Velco on the rails? Also, has anyone basted the batting and backing together and then put it on the frame? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

I put fabric leaders on both my frames and that makes loading much easier (still a task, but easier) I used a medium weight twill type fabric and put a casing on one side of each one that the tube slides into so once you have your tubes pushed into your frame they stay there and you pin you quilt backing and top to the leaders. If your frame instructions gives the lengths to make the leaders I would add a couple of inches to each one to give you a little more room. Both my frames are Grace and I found the lengths they gave are just a little short and I wish I had made them a little longer. If this doesn't make any sense I can take a picture and maybe that would be helpful. Good Luck. You will love your frame once to get it setup.

Hi!!! Thanks for the quick reply. I have the frame set up and I just couldnt push in the material and tubing no matter how hard I tried. If I make the leaders with the tubing inside, one I put the leaders on the rails, could I just leave them there and pin each quilt piece on? That way I would never have to take that tubing out again.

This is a Grace Frame too. Have you ever sandwiched the quilt and loaded it that way?

Thanks!!!

Yes the leaders stay on the frame and once you have the tubing in it never has to come out again.

I haven't tried loading an already sandwiched quilt yet but I was wondering about that too. As long as everything is very smooth there should be no reason why it wouldn't work. I have only had my frame a few months so I am still figuring things out.

Thanks so much for all your help. This is so overwhelming at first. I am sure that you understand how I feel. I am at that stage where I wonder what the heck was I thinking when I bought this lol!!!

I made the leaders also, so much easier. With my practice quilt I didn't prebaste, I used the rollers, didn't like how it was working (have the Grace Pinnacle). So with the one that's on the frame now, I prebasted the layers, and it works like a dream. Hope that helps.

I know EXACTLY how you feel, but this too will pass and it will be fun. I only have a mid-arm machine but I certainly can get a quilt done alot faster than I could on my conventional machine without the frame and with much less struggle.

Lori I have a mid arm too. I bought the megaquilter by viking. I wanted to make sure that I was able to do it and really enjoyed it before thinking about investing in a longarm. Are you able to quilt the whole quilt on the machine?

It takes some practice!
yes make the leaders ( you can buy them but they are expensive)
once you pin your top backing and batting to the leaders a few times you get the hang of it!
Keep the tension on your rails consistent and recheck that things are straight and smoothe with each advance.
I have never loaded an already sandwiched quilt, defeats the purpose of having a multi rail system.
But if it works go for it!

Did you prebaste with spray adhesive? Did you then just use the take up roller and backing roller?

Yes, if you allow an extra 3-4 inches of backing on the top and bottom you can get the whole quilt without turning the rails around. I had one baby quilt that my backing had no extra and I had to turn it around to get the last little bit of quilting on the bottom. This is not a huge problem as long as you have someone to give you a hand and enough space to turn the rails end for end in your quilting room. I have made up to queen size and by the time I get to the end the takeup rail has enough quilt on it that I end up with about 6 inches of quilting space, but that is still 1/2" more than I had on my conventional machine.

I love the idea of putting a casing on the leaders. I just hemmed mine and have had them come loose. I'm making some like yours before I use the frame again. Great suggestiong.

Hi Patti, the casing seems to work great, the leaders don't slip in the track, once they are in they stay put and I put permanent markings on mine for the center and a pinning line so that when I go to load I just line my top and backing up to the pinning line and center it on the leader and everything should be square.

I used the megaquilter and inspira frame before buying my longarm. Yes you can do the whole quilt. With a large quilt by the time you get to the end you don't have a lot of space to quilt in, but you can do it.

Thanks so much!! That is good to know.

Yes, I learned that from another member here. She did the same thing. And it worked so much better this way than using all the rollers.

My Grace frame--the newer one--came with leaders. They are attached to the rails with strong industrial Velcro. On my older Grace, the leaders did attach to the tubing of which you speak. But once the leaders are loaded on the tubing, it was fine. But I prefer the velcro attachment on the rails. And yes you can do a whole quilt on a mid arm.

This is a new Imperial frame made by Grace and sold by Viking. I would prefer the velcro. Well I am going to buy the material and make the leaders with the casing and insert the tubing into the casing and once it is in there it isnt coming back out. LOL!!! Wish me luck!!!

Sounds like way too much work to me. I just used painter's tape to tape my leaders to the poles then pinned my backing & top to the appropriate poles on my B-Line frame. When I switched to the ProFlex frame, I decided to use sticky back velcro instead of tape but the tape laid smoother so I'm thinking of pulling the velcro off and going back to tape. Once the leaders are on, they never come off unless you decide to make different sets for different sizes of quilts. I marked my leaders every 6 inches so I can keep everything square no matter what size quilt I load.

I know a lot of folks like to put zippers on their leaders then baste or sew another mini-leader with the matching zipper on the backing fabric. That way they can unzip a little to check the backside or fill the bobbin or completely unzip to load a different quilt. Sounds like a really cool idea but again--too much work to sew on the zipper for lazy me. I keep my t-pins in the leaders so they're always ready to load.

I want the easiest way possible which is why I am also not going to use the other two rollers. Zippers are not for me either. Thanks so much for everyones help.

The other rollers do serve a purpose especially if you get a wonky backing or top. You can load them and roll them back & forth to re-square the fabric. They also help keep everything square. Yes, it is a pain to pin it all up but unless you're sure everything is square & is going to stay square. One of the rollers is for your quilt back & I definitely recommend using it. The other is for the quilt top and is optional. Many people prefer to "float" the tops so they can adjust for "wonkiness" as they quilt rather than finding out on the last row just how off the piecing was. Nasty surprise!

Some frames even have a 4th pole for batting which is handy for keeping it off the floor. Both of mine did but I confess that I didn't use it.

Ditto on what others said (leave the leaders on the poles; I baste them to the quilt parts instead of pin); I haven't read all the responses, so this may be a repeat. I had trouble, initially, getting the tubing into the grooves, but finally found that if I started at one end, successfully, and worked all the way to the other end, it went in o.k.

I have 4 rollers on my frame. I am using the two and playing it by ear on the other two.