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*Sigh*

Last week, I had long days at work. Then we camped over the weekend, and finally today I sat down to start trying to get everything put together. My Babylock is having some sort of issue. I need to take it in for service, I think. It's never acted like this before, but in all fairness, I've had it stored away for the past three years and even before then never had it tuned up, so it's really time anyway. I'll take it in tomorrow.

I suppose I can just hem the leaders with the Janome to get them onto the rack, and then go from there. I'd really like to get things set up tomorrow evening, because I'm off starting on Wednesday for the rest of the week. I rarely take time off, and I was really hoping to start practicing! I've been very patient!!

If you bought leaders look at them first, mine came with the space for the red snappers. I didn't have to hem them

my leaders came with velcro strips, do a chalk line across your bar and then sort of blow excess chalk off before attaching the velcro to the poles
If you don't get them on straight your quilts won't be straight and the velcro will eventually move even more crooked as your always pulling on it. Thats what I did. does your poles have a heavy pold or poles that you put together, if so the middle line on your poles is your middle and thats where you put your middle of your leader. If you have the heavy solid poles I don't know how those are attached.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AllyStitches (Post 6771415)

I have been looking at the red snappers but wasn't sure about them. I like the ticking idea. I saw a tutorial about it somewhere, maybe on here. I have joined the yahoo group you mentioned, so I'll check them out.

I Love my red snappers! Hubby bought them for me two years ago and what a difference loading/ unloading quilts. They were tight at first but with use became easier to use.

I have red snappers, love them after I get them on. Mine have never softened up and are hard on my hands.

I am also a newbie at using a quilting table. When I took a lesson on how to use a handiquilter table a couple of years ago I was given three marked leaders-all of the same length and width. I have purchased a used grace quilting table that came with unmarked leaders of various sizes with different widths and lengths. Can I use the marked matching leaders from the handiquilter on my grace table or will that cause a problem because they are all the same length?

Tape for toll up bars

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prism99 (Post 6771407)

1. I would say no. Often the markings are not all that accurate. What I would advise instead is to purchase woven ticking (the lines are actually woven into the fabric). I got some pretty pink at Beverly's online. Purchase enough for the width of your rails (mine are 10'); you should be able to cut all the leaders from that. Add on an extra foot, if you can afford it; the extra can be formed into very nice side tensioning devices. Here is a link to the ticking I purchased:
http://www.beverlys.com/james-thomps...paign=nextopia

2. My dh did this for me. There are some good directions on the Yahoo group homequiltingsystems, in their "files" section. I wouldn't worry about that until you get to that point.

3. It's not really necessary to mark centers on your leaders, but it's a nice thing to do. It's best to mark the centers ***after*** you attach the leaders to the rails. There is a Youtube video on how to do this. By using your machine to mark the centers on all of the leaders after they are attached, all of your markings will be lined up. The only reason to center your quilts on the frame is so that your frame stays balanced through many quiltings. I recommend purchasing the quilter's frame tape with markings (I will have to look it up to find the name) and mounting that tape on your frame after the leaders are on. It helps not only with centering, but also with keeping borders, blocks, etc. even as you roll.

4. I have used the zipper method. What I found is that my sewing machine, used to baste the quilt pieces to the zipper tape, had a serious tendency to stretch the fabric as it was sewn. The zipper tape has no stretch at all. Therefore, the tops and bottoms of both my backing and top tended to be wider than the middle of the quilt. When I did not use side tensioning to stretch the middles as well, I ended up with quilts that have "wings" at the corners. It is not that noticeable until I go to fold the finished quilts. Side tensioning would have helped with this. Currently I think it's much smarter to use either Red Snappers or Leader Grips. To use these, ***before*** attaching leaders to the frame, sew a 3/4" casing so you can insert the rod. I am planning to get myself some Red Snappers, as I think they will be a little easier for me to close with my weak hands. If you Google both these products, you will find some informative websites and videos. Either one will make loading a quilt easier and faster than using zippers (at about the same cost).

C
Where do you find the tape to attach the leaders to the roll up bars. Please

Where do you find the tape for attaching to roll up bar, please

Quote:

Originally Posted by AllyStitches (Post 6771419)

I wonder if the Red Snappers can be trimmed. My frame is smaller than her smallest size (because my sewing room is teensy. But hey, I have a sewing room!!)

Yes, AllyStitches, Red Snappers can be easily trimmed with a box cutter.

I know this is an old thread but figured I'd chime in. My friend has a metal grace frame and I gave up all the stuff with the leaders and just use basic wide blue painter's tape to put on the back. I find I can get a nice straight and taut back that way. Yes, it does mean I need at least 6" extra top and bottom and prefer more. The rods on the metal grace frames have a nice deep groove along the length, I just line it up and tape away. Takes less than a minute and no sewing or unsewing.

I often turn my quilts for the borders and if anyone has info on me on how that works with the zippers, that would be great. I don't have as much access to my friend's system as I did before and the closest place I can rent a system (about half an hour away) requires the zippers... Any of the basics, like I would imagine usually you buy two zippers for top and bottom -- so can you put another set on the sides? Or do you have to take off the top/bottom first and then put them on the sides. I don't want to pay for time and get 90% complete and then have to go home change the zippers and pay for another sessions, that takes that option away for all quilts I want to turn.

My friend was given one of the kits of pre-measured heavy duty leaders when she bought her setup and we tried using them originally with varying degrees of success. I bought extra long muslin and made our own that would fit the length of the 10" frame. I made a nice neat deep (1") hem to use to safety pin the top to the muslin, or that could be sewn through with basting stitches if you wanted to take it off the machine. I also stitched cheap tape measuring strips going from center out sewn just above the deep hem, I think they were 48" inches so 8 feet, close enough to line up stuff we needed to line up.

But after all that, it's just simpler and easier for me to tape. I don't know how well the tape sticks/comes off of wood, but it's painter tape -- it should do just fine.