Red Snappers
 

Just watched a video about loading quilt tops on a quilting frame with Red Snappers....looks easy. I've been pinning mine on each time and I've stuck myself a couple of times. So far no blood on quilts!! Wondering how many use the Red Snappers and if you thought they were worth the money?

Love mine!! Worth every penny to me.

I have the same thing by another maker. They're called Leadergrips and I am sooo glad I bought them. Loading a quilt used to take so much more time.

I love the Red Snappers, and also the Red-E-Edge for the sides of the quilt.

Love my Red Snappers--once you get the hang of it they are so much faster to load a quilt and no pin sticks! They will be stiff at first but you can bend some back and forth and that loosens them up enough to make it easier to use.

Bought mine last year and love them. So much easier and save lots of time.

There's Red Snappers, Leadergrips, and Mondo Clips. I have Red Snappers, bought them used from a friend. Never had a problem with them, however some people find them stiff at first. If you have arthritis, maybe ask hubby or find a friend with strong hands who can sort of break them in by bending and working them a bit.

I love mine! Been using them for 2 years now. At first they were a little stiff, but after using them a few times they loosened up a little and are much easier now.

Wouldn’t trade them for the world. Best investment ever for my longarm. Yes, they are a bit tight when you first get them, but the loosen up quickly if you know how to bend them. I can load each side in less than a minute!

The machine I rent has LeaderGrips...I used to pin to load my quilts too but the LeaderGrips make it so much faster. I don’t think you would be disappointed.

Mondo clips can be cut into any size with scissors. Loving mine for loading the backing as I float my tops.

I also have the Leader Grips. Would not be without them!

I don't know what the prices are like in the USA but here in Canada they were outrageous. I went to the hardware store and bought LED lighting track,(flexible plastic type), and plastic hollow tubing to fit. Works just fine for me at less than $20.

I did the same her in MI and worked great but I really prefer to pin as I do not put large quilts on the frame. Might get out my zippers and use them again, much easier to stitch it on and go.

Is there an easy tutorial on how to use these?

I’m having trouble visualising this. Can you post a picture of your set up please. I live in Canada too and am regularly frustrated by the pricing of quilt supplies here. I recently bought a used Nolting with a Gracie table and am getting ready to use it.

Absolutely love them. Wouldn't go back to pinning a quilt in for anything!!!!

Love mine too, worth every penny. Saves so much time and no more pin sticks. Before Red Snappers I kept a bottle of hydrogen peroxide in the sewing room, lol.

I am very glad I invested in the red snappers! As others have said, they are somewhat stiff, but worth the effort to me. One thing I did was to cut the longest ones into two pieces....not necessarily half, but that makes them easier for me to use and fit a bigger variety of quilt widths.

First I pinned then went to zippered leaders for several years. Then I learned about Leadergrips. Loading a quilt is so much faster and easier. But I had problems with the Leadergrips cracking at the ends. I called and asked if it was possible to order only the top parts and was told no, so I went to Red Snappers. But they were too hard to use with arthritic hands and we found that they used so much more space at the ends of the quilt. If we had a quilt where the backing was short, we couldn't use them. The Red Snappers are much wider than Leadergrips. So I contacted Leadergrips again and found out the top part alone was now available. We I went back to Leadergrips. I was also told they are now using a different type of plastic that does't crack like the old ones. I haven't had any problems with the new ones. We will never go back to pinning or zippered leaders. Leadergrips or Red Snappers (if you have strength in your hands) are the only way to go, in my opinion. We can load a back in 10 minutes or less with the Leadergrips.

We use Leadergrips where I rent longarm time, and they're great! There is one machine that doesn't have them, and pinning is soooo slow (and painful). If I buy a longarm, I will definitely use a system like this. Worth every penny!

Love my red snapper NO more pins for me. The more you use them the easier they get to put on.

Amazing that I seem to be the only one that did not like the Red Snappers. I have bilateral carpal tunnel and have had 2 surgeries on each hand, which causes weakness in my hands. I was unable to apply enough pressure on the red snappers to get them to lock on the backing fabric. (I also did not like the “flapping ends” of my leads when I had a small quilt loaded.)

I sold the red snappers to another longarmer. I also made “a more flexible type snapper” like you did. That did not work for me either. Like farmquilter, I prefer to pin.

I've looked at different videos, and read comments and don't see where this is going to save me a lot of time over pinning. I read one person say it took them 45 mn to pin on a quilt vs 10 mn with the snapper. It might take me 45 to fully load a quilt, but that is the whole process, not just the pinning.

I'm not keen on the idea of having extra fabric for the backing so the tool can be rolled so it's behind the deadbar before starting. I have a 24" machine, and prefer to have the start of the quilt much closer to me, usually with a lot of the leader in front of the deadbar to do this. I do normally have the quilt within 2" of where it's pinned to the leader.

It only takes me about 5 mn to pin each side, and I don't measure anything. I also pin the lower end so that the end folds over the pins. It is so much easier to do this, and I've not had it cause any problems doing so.

But I also only quilt for myself so I know what my backing is, and that it is "square" to start with. I float my tops so I just eyeball them to get them centered. Almost makes me afraid to quilt for others, I might start dealing with all sorts of problems!

I also prefer to have my quilts to one end and leave as much open on the other end for machine maintenance, so I always load from one end to where ever it ends up.