Today, I am going to post a Tutorial on just that subject.
Hope this will help others just starting out with this home quilting system.
The way I
load a quilt on my New Joy Gold Standard Frame
by Barb Lynn
I have leaders made with
duck cloth which are about 15 inches wide. They attach to the bars
with sticky back Velcro. I use only three of the rail that came with
the frame at the present time. The leader on the take up, backing and
the quilt bars are marked with permanent marker at the center. You
can draw a line on edge of the leaders to have an accurate line to
pin on.
I first attach the backing
to the take up bar, wrong side of backing facing up. The leader comes
underneath the bar, underneath the machine needle and full forward to
within easy reach. Starting at the middle of the frame attach the
leader to the backing by placing the leader next to the backing
matching center line on the backing to the center line on the leader
and pin about ¼ inch from the edge, pins fairly close together.
I roll the backing up on
the take up roller until I get fairly close to the end of the leader,
smooth out the back as you are rolling and make sure the seam where
you attached the backing is nice and smooth. This is photo showing
the take up leader rolled all the way to end. Tighten the knob for
the take up roller.
I leave the backing
hanging loose and take a hold of the other end of the backing and
match markings. Pin the backing leader to the bottom of backing in
the same way. Tighten the knob on the backing bar to keep from
unwinding.
Once the backing it pinned
to the leader, you can roll it counterclockwise until it is tight.
and smooth.
I usually keep a hold of
the take up roller so it won't roll out too fast to keep the backing
pretty smooth as I go. You may have to roll it back to the take up
roller and repeat the process to smooth it all out.
Now is the time to put the batting on. Loosen the backing some and bring the batting up over the backing roll and insert the top edge underneath the top roller. I take the batting to within an inch of the edge of the take up leader. You can measure this or just eyeball it. Smooth out the batting and make sure it lines up straight with the outside edges of the backing.
Pin the quilt top to the top roller, lining up your center marks.
I let the quilt top rest in the well formed by the take up roller and the backing roller while I am pinning to the top leader..
Take the quilt top edge to within an inch or so from the batting edge at the back of the machine. I pin the top at this point and roll the quilt up on the top bar, turning clockwise to tighten. Same as with the backing, you may have to unroll the top and roll it back up to get it smooth and straight. Use the side claps to keep the sides straight.
It is now ready to quilt.
Adjust the rollers to ¼ inch from the top of the machine bed and if
machine is threaded and ready to go...start quilting.
When finished quilt I
unpin the backing from the leader, then loosen the knob of the take
up roller. I can now pull on the edge of the quilt nearest to me and
it will unroll from the take up roller. Take out the pins at the top
edge and the quilt can be taken to the cutting table to be trimmed
for the binding process.
Comments welcome,
Barb Lynn
