spools Posted February 5, 2006 Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 What is the story with zippered leaders. are they worth the money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue E. Posted February 5, 2006 Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 Yes, go and order them now and put them on immediately. I always have my practice quilt pinned to a set of zippers and I take it on and off all the time in just minutes. When I want to try something new or a new thread I zip this practice quilt onto the frame, try whatever I want or practice something then when I'm ready to work on a real quilt, I unzip the practice quilt and put the "real" one on. As an example, I put a quilt onto the frame a couple of weeks ago. Once it was on the frame I decided to quilt a design I needed to digitize so all I had to do was unzip this quilt and zip on my practice peice. It was all very easy. Also, I have a friend who rents time on my machine. She never finishes a quilt in one afternoon so she bought a set of zippers. She pins the quilts on at home, comes over to my place and zips it onto my frame, quilts whatever she can get done and then unzips it and goes home. The next time she comes over (it may be a week or more), she just zips the quilt back on and usually finishes it. If I'm working on something when she wants to use the Millie, it is easy for me to just unzip my quilt and let her use the machine. I actually have several extra sets of zippers so I can have my practice piece pinned on and several quilts - I get bored easily:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylemma Posted February 5, 2006 Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 Sue, Did you get your zippers from Sue Schmieden at the Quilting Connection??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona-quilter Posted February 5, 2006 Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 I bought my zippers quite recently. I bought a 'machine set'. I will be getting 2 quilt sets later this month. The time savings of pinning and unpinning dozens of pins in order to quilt was not my motive. Though using the Quick Zip method is so much faster than those pins. For me it's all about the pain and blood. I would stick myself at least a half dozen times each time I setup a quilt. And not those little sticks, those rips as my hands or arms brushed over the quilt. Of course, I would have to stop, tend the poke, cover with a band-aid so now my fingers are sore and covered with annoying bandaids that catch on everything. Time lost. Yuck. The zippers changed all that. You get 3 zippers in a machine set. They come with excellent instructions though the zippers are clearly labelled. You sew 3 of the half zippers onto your longarm. My husband helped with this. The other 3 halves go like this... I baste the top and bottom of the backing on separate zipper halves using my DSM. I baste the bottom of the quilt top to the third zipper half also using my DSM. Then I carry the sandwich to my longarm, zip the backing on (top and bottom), zip the bottom of the qult top on, pull the batting and top of the quilt top up to meet the top of the backing (which is already zipped on the machine). I use about 10 pins to hold the batting & quilt top on the (wrong side of) top of the backing until I baste the batting on using my longarm. I remove the pins. I advance the rollers, attach the side straps and I am ready to go. No pain, no bandaids. I love zippers. I bet you will, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona-quilter Posted February 5, 2006 Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 KathyR, I got my Sue Schmieden QuickZip zippers from Myrna Ficken. The shipping was fast. Of course, my zippers didn't have to go down under. www.aquilterschoice.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judi Posted February 5, 2006 Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 I agree - once you try the zippers you will love them! It is nice not to have to bend over the machine to attach your quilt. I also have extra sets and try to keep a practice piece on one. A customer brought in 8 baby quilts the other day, so I sat down with my feet up, put on some music and pinned for awhile. It is kind of like a little break. Once they are pinned you can really get them on and off - fast! Think about being in the middle of a really huge and intense quilt. If you have zippers on it, and need a break, off it comes and you can slip in a quick little something for a change of pace ( or to make that person happy who needs it right now!). Then when you want to go back to the other quilt, just zip it right back on - and everything is still lined up correctly - Very Nice! We bought ours from Sue S. as well. You need the machine set and how ever many extras you want. Judi O. Happy Quilting! (and zipping!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue E. Posted February 5, 2006 Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 Originally posted by Dylemma Sue, Did you get your zippers from Sue Schmieden at the Quilting Connection??? Yes, I bought my original machine set and extra quilt set from Sue Schmieden; I bought several extra quilt sets from Myrna Ficken. I don't sew baste my quilts to the zippers because I hate manipulating all the quilt weight on my small sewing table so I do pin baste (I use corsage pins) and I do get stabbed every now and then, but I sure do like the ease of taking quilts on and off. I usually do not remove the zippers from the quilt until after I have finished my quilting and have had a chance to go over the quilt to make sure I'm happy with all the quilting and haven't missed any spots! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spools Posted February 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 Thanks for all of the responses. I'm going to order the zippers first thing tomorrow. I think this will solve my problem of nevergetting my own things done. I hate to have my projects tie up my machine. This way when I want to work on a customers project I can just unzip mine and put their project on!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrna Ficken Posted February 5, 2006 Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 Wanted to let everyone know that the Zippers I carry on my website are Sue's Quick Zip System. They are awesome! Myrna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susanri Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 I'm Hooked !! they are great no more pricked fingers!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtorsvik Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 Hi ! Have a look at Myrna's webshot how she pins her quilts if you not already have! http://community.webshots.com/album/528348220SdUfag Shows some great pictures how she does it with the zippers too! Thanks Myrna for all your photos and inspiration! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrna Ficken Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 Hi Janne, I am happy I will see you in May:D. But sad I won't get to this week:( This is how I pin a quilt on. It is the same with or without zippers. Myrna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ammueller7 Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 absolutely wouldn't be without them - I quilt with my sister and one of us quilts while the other one pins to zippers - our Milly is never stopped on the days we're quilting. Zip on - zip off. plus I can take evenings to sit with my hubby and pin quilts while we watch TV. PLUS - - - everytime I think "Oh, I'll just throw this quilt on without pinning it to a zipper set" - I get bitten - something inevitably happens that the quilt has to come off before it's done and I am always sorry I didn't pin to zippers. We probably have 9 sets of zippers here and most of the zippers are on quilts = as soon as a quilt gets done - the zippers get repinned to another quilt - always quilts ready to zip on and go. LOVE it Sue Schmieden was going to a show and asked Yvonne and I to write her a letter recommending her zippers. Her and her daughter Angie are terrific people and have a great business going in Elkhorn - her zippers are a terrific invention. Don't hesitate - get several sets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cherie Walters Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 The zippers sound great - but I've always pondered the ease and speed of turning a quilt to do side borders when zippers are attached. Does any one do this and how does it compare to unpinning, turning and repinning. Cheers Cherie in Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judi Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 Hi Cherie - I Love the zippers, but yes, in the case of turning I remove them and sart over just as if it were a new quilt. I am working on one right now as a matter of fact..... just wanted to check my emails.... you caught me! Back to work! Judi O. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrna Ficken Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 Yes, You still need to unpin to turn. However when someone order some for me thay ask if the could pin the zippers on all 4 sides in the beginning and then be ready to trun. I don't see why not. Angie , Sue and Angie are great, as are her zippers. Myrna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joanowens Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 I got the zippers after I purchased the Millie in Oct. I found them useful and a quick way to get the quilts on and off fast especially if you work on more that one quilt at a time. I get bored and want to work on something else so this a a nice way to have many projects to work on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangled Threads Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Are they easy to install? Do you have to take your leaders totally off to sew the zippers on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltaholi_518 Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Are zipperred leaders worth it? YES! The zippers I got from Sue S. come with instructions. It is a bit tricky, but not hard. You just pull your leadr out a bit, clamp it taught, and hold the zippers just under the edge of the leader as you sew along fom the middle out. I sit watching TV at night and pin zippers on and then the next day I can just QUILT, QUILT, QUILT!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susanri Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 yes yes and yea I just got mine from Myrna and I already love them I baste mine on use the sewing machine that way when I rub my hand down the quilt I no longer shred my hands on the pins! one would think after the first ten times I would stop doing that! but Its so hard being blonde sometimes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwltnlady Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 Has anyone ever tried putting zippers on all 4 sides to facilitate turning? I thought about it, but I wonder how the loose ends of the side zippers would behave when rolling the quilt on, advancing, etc. How would that affect the quilt itself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaB Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 This works well for me. I take little safety pins and mark the center of all 4 sides of the quilt top before pinning. That way I've established center already, so when it's time to turn the quilt I've got my reference already established, and off I go in front of the TV to re-pin. At first I was very hesitent to turn a quilt, but have found the end result is well worth it... Give it a try. Linda B. Oregon APQS Millennium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Linda S Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 I wouldn't put the zippers on all four side before loading. Quilt all you want with your first two sides on, then take the quilt off, attach the zippers to the other two sides, and put it back on. Otherwise, you're going to have big lumps on the sides of the quilt as you roll. Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltaholi_518 Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 So, do you guys mark the center of the sides before you start quilting? I am imagining It would be harder to figure out where the center of the side is after it's been all quilted up on the ends and middle. Make sense??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Linda S Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Once you upzip it from the machine, it's pretty easy to fold the quilt in half (border to border) and find the center. Then you just put the zippers on the sides and put it back on. Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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