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Snappers, Grips or Zippers?


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I would like some opinions on whether to go with Red Snappers, Leader Grips or Zippers.  Since I'm new to long arming I really am not sure which way to go, I just know that

I would prefer not to have to pin.  Any help is appreciated????

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I can give you my opinion because I have all three.  Leader Grips were fine, but I almost immediately upgraded to Red Snappers which I still use.  I don't remember why I did that.  

 

I usually pin the top of the back and I use the Red Snappers on the bottom of the back.  I do this because I have a Liberty with a 20 inch throat and some of my quilts are fairly big.  If I use Red Snappers sometimes the tube gets in a position just right to take up ½ inch or so of my throat space and I have trouble getting the needle to the other edge if I'm using my CL boards.  I hope that makes sense, anyway, I float my tops. 

 

I had (and still have) several sets of zippers and hated them from day one.  It was way more work than pinning or using the Red Snappers.  The zippers are nice if you have to remove the quilt in the middle of quilting it in order to put another quilt on.  I don't sew for others so that was never an issue.

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I use both Red Snappers and Zippers. I use RS for quick quilts; and zippers for long term quilts I may want to remove in order to quilt a different quilt. The zippers are sewn onto the leaders which are already attached to the frame. I created another "leader that is the length of my current leaders (12' frame)  but is about 8" to 10" wide. I have zippers on one side and then sewed the casing on the other which the Red Snapper fits into. This allows me to not have the pressure to finish quilts I want to spend a lot of time on just to quickly quilt another that may have come up on the spur of the moment. (Sometimes the custom quilt quits speaking to me and I have to put it away until I come up with a plan, LOL)

 

Oma is correct that the Red Snapper on the roller where you pin the top of the backing to does take up a little bit of space and can cause the back your machine to catch - My Mille's extra box for the bobbin winder hits it. I don't quilt for others and create my backs just a little bit longer in order to roll that RS behind the bar where it is out of the way.

 

I use safety pins on my zippers; those work the best for me especially if I am taking them on and off the frame.

 

Think about what kind of quilting you are going to do and if you think you might do some custom quilting you may want to invest in both systems at some time. I am very glad I did.

 

14181692054_6743c7f275.jpg2014-05-13 19.08.47 by Lisa C., on Flickr

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I had zippers on my old machine. I absolutely hate those pins. They tear my hands up. I always had a feeling they were not perfectly centered, so I was not real happy with them.

 

When I purchased my current machine, I ordered the Red Snappers. I went to Youtube and found out how to attach them and purchased 6 cheap tape measures to apply to the leaders to make sure I had my quilts centered. That was on youtube too. Renae Haddadin had great instructions. 

 

If I can avoid pins I will do it!!

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I have the red snappers.  I do really like them.  I don't bleed as often!  I will tell you that when you first get them they are a little stiff.  At first I wasn't sure I should have ordered them but as I worked with them they were better.  As Mary Beth said Renae Haddadin has great instructions and youtube helps.  Also as Lisa mentioned I too make my back a bit longer so the leader part goes under the bar.  Because I baste my batting and then pin my top to the batting and backing I can take the quilt off and put it back on with the red snappers without too much trouble.  If I know I am going to turn the quilt I make the sides a little wider than usual also.  

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Yep, I have my snappers sewn into canvas that zips on the leaders.    I originally had Leader Grips and hated them.  I had the originals which you had to shrink wrap the pieces together to fit your size of frame.  My Leader Grips kept folding in the middle and the Leader Grips were not flexible so they were hard to install in a small space.  I watched Renee's video and decided to switch to Red Snappers, it was a great video (none provided for leader grips).  I bought the snappers and tape measure and haven't looked back since.  I've had the same set of Red Snappers for years and they are still like new.  Love them. 

 

Oh I have the zippers because they were the first "gadget" to come out, I hated pins!!!!!  Took me longer to pin a quilt then to actually quilt it, LOL.

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I'm just starting to use Lucey for myself.  I put zippers on but when it is time to attach the backing to the zipper I baste them on with my DSM with the longest stitch possible.  Then just zip them on the frame.  When all done quilting I just rip/pull the zipper tape off the fabrics.  I have no desire to pin either.

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I love my zippers. I also baste the quilt and the tops on with a long stitch on the DSM. My friend had Snappers and forgot to fully release her brake and the Snapper popped off when she rolled the quilt. It was a mess. We also encountered the machine getting hung up on them if the backing was not long enough to roll under the leveler bar and away from the quilt. But really, I never minded pinning and still do it on small projects. People either love zippers and Snappers or they hate them. I got my zippers before Snappers came out but I have no plans to replace them. I also take quilts on and off occasionally and zippers are best for that.

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I was beginning to think I was the only one out here who uses zippers!  I love them.  I sit and "listen" to a tv program while pinning the backing to the zippers.  I float my tops so don't use that third zipper.  Haven't really had a lot of problem with getting stuck by a pin ... knock on wood ... love being able to remove quilt when I need to work on a "rush" job.  

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I started out using zippers, then switched to Red Snappers. I liked them, but as a couple of people have said, they sometimes got in the way, particularly if the backing was a little shorter than we'd like. After using them for a year or so, I went back to zippers. I don't mind the pinning time - but don't like getting stuck once in a while! All in all, as much as I liked the Snappers, I prefer zippers, so I sold mine.

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Before I even ordered my Millie, I bought a set of Red Snappers.  They are still sitting in the bag, leaning up against the corner of the room.  I need to hire someone to "install" them for me, and maybe I'd use them.  I don't mind pinning, but then I've only been doing this for six months.  I might get sick of pins eventually. 

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  • 4 years later...

Hi all  .. l am very curious about zippers.  Do I permanently attach a zipper to my leaders?  Then would I need a separate zipper to baste to my quilt backing?  How do you then get the zipper teeth from one zipper to mesh with the zippers permanently attached?  Many thanks for any help you can offer!

 

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The zippers separate so one side of the zipper is sewn to your leader and it stays there.  You attach the other part of the zipper to your backing and zip the two parts together.  I hope this makes sense.  I have a set of 3 for a 14 foot table that I would sell since I only use a system like Red Snappers now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Neither. I'm a pinner. The only time I use my zippers is if I am working on a heavy custom quilt that I need to zip on and off the frame multiple times. The only other time I use zippers is to put on my large practice sandwich to test out designs or get my memory back on how to quilt something. Otherwise, if it is just a quilt I load one time only, I pin directly to the leaders. It is hassle free, very quick and everything is loaded in less than 10 minutes and I'm quilting away... otherwise, I'm fussing with sewing things to zippers, or snapping things to fabric. Not a fan of the snappers. they are a PITA, IMHO. 

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