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Clamps hitting machine


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I am just getting started with my new Millennium, and have my quilt loaded, panto on the table, etc. As I do a practice run without stitching, I am finding the machine 'catching' on the clamps, and bouncing the needle out of position on the panto... creating a not so smooth curve.

Does anyone have any pointers?

How can I avoid this?

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Jo, you can run a yard stick underneath the clamp elastics to keep the head from hitting the clamps. Personally, I prefer to use curtain rods - the ones for cafe curtains, with a curve on each end - they stay in place on the rollers better than yardsticks.

Welcome to the APQS family! You're in for a wonderful ride!! :D

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Jo, check out this video from Kimmy Brunner on quilt tensioning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xU0UzeOWwU. At the end she explains this.

Barb recommended the curtain rods and those are great too; my husband is a woodworker and made me a set of wood ones that are curved like the curtain rods. I love them; they are quiet and beautiful and functional!

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I used to use the curtain rods and even have some aluminum ones from Harley manufacturing. I still didn't like the way they could distort the edge if you weren't very careful. So here's what I did several years ago.

Take the elastic out of the clamps that are attached to the frame. Now, feed the elastic back into the little clamp going from the outside to the inside. The clamp will be hanging on the outside of the frame like a weight. Simply use a straight pin to attach the elastic to the backing & batting. Your machine will glide right over it!

post-12-0-30294500-1356202830_thumb.jpg

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this is what i did - i used duct tape and they have remained the right size with all the use i give them.

it also works to keep the clamps up so you don't have to reach beneath to find the when you let them got to advance the quilt.

YEP.....I use the inexpensive curtain rods from Wal Mart. Think I paid 97 cents. I adjust them for length and tape the ends together so they don't slide apart and stay snug on the rollers. They work great.

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I also wrapped some of that duct tape around the ends of the rods so they wouldn't scratch my rollers. They can be a little sharp. I, too, like them for holding the clamps within reach when you unhook them from the quilt. They are easy to slide out of the way when not needed or to move back and forth with different widths of quilts.

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I'm not to sure if this picture will post, but I usually do a similar thing to Darlene. My elastics have these little pin pads that I made to go on the end. I use curtain rods too, for lift of the elastic straps, but with these little pin pads, I can get my machine pretty close to the edge of the quilting field without any issues that I've found when using the clamps alone.

8299149252_9b1cc60654.jpg

clamp by Heritage Keepsakes, on Flickr

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Hi,

I am a little different, as I use the large sized chip clips and have replaced my clamps with those. They are lighter and easier for my hands to open and close. I have two yardsticks that I use, and also on quilts with very little edge on the backing, I have some short home made leaders with dowels along one edge and a part of a yardstick along the other long edge so I can clamp there. I attach the dowel side of the short leaders to the side of the backing with a short segment of leadergrip. This gives even pressure on the back and does not distort.

post-3439-0-08667900-1356320540_thumb.jpg

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I used the curtain rods for awhile and put pipe insulation on the rod to keep them from scratching the bars. Then I came up with the idea of making some out of 1/2" PVC and had DH glue 90's on the ends so they hang right over the leader bars. They work great for holding up the clamps.

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Thanks for all the ideas!

Told my husband, it's just like when he bought his table saw a few years back. It didn't come with all the tools and jigs he need to make great furniture.

Last week I was struggling with a fleece quilt that was stretching where the heavy clamps were the sides. Dawn encouraged running selvage on the side to decrease stretching and that helped lots, but those heavy clamps pulled unevenly and my machine bumped them, even with curtain rods. Ordered 6" chip bag clams and received them today. Thanks to the Forum I have even more options, like Darlene and Julie suggestion to just pin the elastic to the quilt.

I must say, this Forum is the best!! Thanks to all of you who willingly share your beautiful quilting and solutions to challenges that I'm sure I'll face soon, if I haven't yet.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi,

I am a little different, as I use the large sized chip clips and have replaced my clamps with those. They are lighter and easier for my hands to open and close. I have two yardsticks that I use, and also on quilts with very little edge on the backing, I have some short home made leaders with dowels along one edge and a part of a yardstick along the other long edge so I can clamp there. I attach the dowel side of the short leaders to the side of the backing with a short segment of leadergrip. This gives even pressure on the back and does not distort.

post-3439-0-08667900-1356320540_thumb.jpg

Karen, would you be so kind to post a picture, or a link to a picture, of the sides with your homemade side leaders and leadergrip. I use leadergrips as my quilt attaching system, and have yet to find the best working solution for my sides. I've made side leaders to pin to the quilt sides (time consuming to repin the width of the side leader and to do so evenly), turned my elastic around and pin it to the sides (uneveness of side edges at times), and OXO chip clips (still sometimes have issues with catching while using with curtain rods, too). Sooo, I would like to use a couple of my pieces of leadergrip snap tops on the sides and would like to see what you've done. Thanks!

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