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A quilt backing on a longarm - 

 

For the first time - 

 

Is an adventure! - LOL -

 

And that's as far as I got today - 

We did a "quick and dirty" attachment of the leader cloths and the backing - 

Last night before the dealer left - 

So today I tweaked it a little - 

Starting with re-centering the leader cloths with the center of the frame - 

Since the frame can be configured in either the Crib size or Queen size - 

 

Both rails connect in the middle - 

 

So I used the space/gap between the two rails as my center marking - 

And tried to line up the center-most straight line of the leader cloth with it - 

(BOB thinks that would be easier to do -

If the line extended to the edge of the leader cloth - 

and if it matched up to one of the dots -

but then again - it's probably just me - LOL - ;))

 

I re-attached the leader cloths to the rails using the velcro that came with it - 

(BOB thinks that the velcro on the leader cloths AND on the rails - 

Is an AWESOME feature -

And it beats trying to stick some tubing in a groove - just sayin' - ;))

Starting in the center and working my way out to the end on each side - 

Pressing down as I went - SO EASY!! - 

If it got a little crooked - I peeled it off - and stuck it down straighter - LOL - 

 

I had already zippered the backing in place last night - 

But I didn't get a chance to take photos - 

So here is the LEFT end - of the TOP of my BACKING - 

 

 

I was going to link to the videos on how to use the zippers - 

But then I realized that you could find those on your own - 

And that they would just be confusing anyway - 

Because I did mine BACKWARDS - 

 

I had a hard time wrapping my head around which half went where - 

So I had to sketch it out - 

Then I had my "DUH" moment - 

 

I put the sketch at the bottom of this post -

And will explain it there - if you're interested - 

If not - you can skip that part - 

 

Basically I did not want to pay for the expensive "stamped" zippers - 

Or pay the price for "longarm" zippers - HERE -

So I got some separating "tent" zippers instead - HERE - 

And I got two for the price of one -

 

Then I basted one half to the leader -

And the other half to the top of the backing - wrong side up - 

With the zipper pull at the LEFT end -

 

 

And the zipper STOP at the RIGHT end - 

Which is the BACKWARDS part - 

 

To zip it ON -

I run the zipper pull all the way to the RIGHT end - stick in the end -

And zip it up with my LEFT hand - pulling to the LEFT - 

 

I figured I needed more control zipping it ON -

Than I did zipping it OFF - that I can do RIGHT-handed -

 

 

Anyway -

This is what it looks like from the backside - 

As it gets rolled up on the take-up bar - 

 

 

I also had basted one half to the leader on the front rail -

And the other half to the bottom of the backing - wrong side up - 

With the zipper pull at the LEFT end -

 

 

And the zipper STOP at the RIGHT end - 

 

Then I rolled my first backing on a longarm - YAY!! - 

 

Mostly I rolled it all onto the take-up rail first - 

To try to get it semi-straight - 

Because I knew that I had stitched a vertical panel in -

A little off-center - 

To see if I could get it straight when I loaded it sideways - 

As sort of a "newbie" challenge to myself - 

 

Then I rolled it all onto the "backing bar" in the front -

 

And I think - for a newbie - that I got it pretty straight -

 

Now here's the part about the zippers that you can skip - 

If you're not interested - 

 

You can watch the videos - 

And buy the fancy "stamped" zippers that tell you where to sew what - 

 

Or you can follow my little sketch - 

 

It doesn't really matter - 

Whether you have the zipper pulls on the LEFT or on the RIGHT - 

You just have to be consistent - or they won't work - 

 

Anyway -

 

THIS IS HOW I DID IT -

 

You need "separating" zippers - like these - HERE -

#5 - Molded Plastic Zippers - Separating - Tent in-Outside Reversible Slide -

The "Tent" ones are cheaper than the "Longarm" ones -

And they look the same to me - 

 

You need TWO zippers - 

 

Mark the CENTER on each one - both sides of the "teeth" - 

Matching the "STOP" with the end of the "PULL" on each - 

So the center is in the same spot on both zippers -

 

Separate them - into 4 halves -

2 WITHOUT pulls - let's call them "A" - the TOP half -

2 WITH pulls - let's call them "B" - the BOTTOM half -

 

Baste an "A" to the bottom of the top leader -

Baste a "B" to the top of the backing - wrong side up - 

 

Baste an "A" to the bottom of the backing - wrong side up - 

Baste a "B" to the top of the bottom leader -

 

I basted mine to the leaders - for the time being - 

Later I may actually SEW them on - to make them permanent -

If I like them - and so far - I DO - 

 

You want zippers as long as your leader cloths -

I got mine 2" longer - accidentally - but it worked out for me - 

Because they were still shorter than my rails - 

And you want to BASTE them in place -

Starting at the CENTER of the zipper - 

Matching the CENTER of the leaders and backing - 

And stitching to each end -

 

That way the centers will line up -

No matter what size backing you have - 

The excess will just hang off the end -

But be careful that it doesn't get in your way - 

Or interfere with your machine quilt "space" - 

 

I BASTED mine to the backing - temporarily -

In a color that I can SEE -  

Because - when I'm done -

I want to take them OFF - 

And use them again on another backing -

 

And removing basting stitches - 

Is a whole lot easier than UNSEWING the dang things - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -