I finally quilted a quilt!

I finally quilted a quilt on Black Bart!













This is a HeartStrings Happy Blocks top, with "matching" backing made with donations by the Queen of Backs! I haven't quilted since before Christmas.

LeaderGrips - I found a wonderful (so far) way to load Backing on the long arm. I bought LeaderGrips, sewed a casing in the new leaders, then filled the casing with the wooden dowels. You then put little plastic clips in the center and both ends, then replace those with the long plastic piece. They have a video of it on you tube. Since I hadn't installed zippers on the new table, it was easy to sew the casing. I used the new side clamps that Nolting sells to steady the leader down its length and used the channel locks to sew an almost straight line. I did pin the casing first. It took me about 7 minutes to load both sides of the backing. No pinning, no basting to zippers, just those plastic pieces. I used something similar a long time ago to hold tablecloths to banquet tables when I catered weddings. I'm hoping they loosen up ever so slightly so I don't have to use as much hand strength to clip them closed.

I hope to recover from the virus my DGD shared with me, and quilt a few more of the waiting tops.
Happy Quilting, Becky

Comments

Bonnie said…
Oh Becky -- I'm so glad you got the leader grips. I looked at them at MQX but didn't get them. My friend with an HQ16 did though and she loves them. So, how hard was it to get the grips on the leaders. Noltings have a nice thick leader unlike the HQ which is not the same. I can't get them until after the move but if you like them with your Nolting I'm sure I will too. Thanks for the video site. Bonnie
June 11, 2010 at 5:17 PM
Helen in the UK said…
Congrats to you and BB on your first quilty finish :)
June 13, 2010 at 3:29 AM
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