red snappers, zippers on leaders - which do you prefer?

[Resilient Quilter]

Hi Everyone1

I'm curious.  Have a couple questions, and am interested in hearing your answers.

 

Do any of you use Red Snappers?  Do you have any trouble manipulating them, and using them?  I have arthritis in my hands, but would like to get away from pinning.

 

Who all uses zippers?  Does it save you any time, since you still have to pin the other half of the zipper to the customers' quilt?

 

Thanks for any and and all input!

Andi

Resilient Quilter

Freedom owner

[cstucke80]

I have the Red Snappers , I much prefer them over the pins.  Tired of getting stuck every time I quilted.

They get easier to use with each quilt. 

Connie

[KathG]

I have tried Zippers, Velcro and the Red Snappers. I have ended up back with the Zippers. I love the idea of the Red Snappers and they do work very well, but using them on my Lenni reduced the available stitch area. I also did find them very hard on my hands.

I do sometimes still pin my backing to the zippers, but mostly I sew the backing to the zippers on my DSM. It is very quick and if you use a large stitch you can just pull the backing off. I also have had one of those micro tac guns which I use sometimes. If memory serves me right Heidi uses a staple gun, and turns the plate so the prongs on the staples turn out wards. I want to try that method but we have three staple guns in the house and not one of them has a movable plate.

[LisaC]

I have both! I purchased a used machine that already had zippers installed. I hate pinning so I purchased Red Snappers, but left my zippers on. I made short leaders with a zipper on one long side and the red snapper casing on the other. I zip the short leaders onto the main leader when I want to use the snappers; giving me a choice.  When I have a quilt I want to spend a lot of time on, I put it on with my zippers. If a quilt comes along that I can knock out quickly then I use my red snappers. I found the snappers tight the first couple of uses but after that very easy to snap on. I do not have arthritis so I'm probably not a good judge. I love having the ability to take my time on a quilt with zippers and being able to remove it and snap something on quickly. If I had to pick one or the other, I would go with the zippers since you can remove a quilt and put it on exactly as it was. I do not quilt for others, just myself, so this works good for me and may not for others. I do need to try the other methods of attaching the zippers to the quilt, I safety pin them right now - but again, I hate pinning!

[JeannieB]

I use the red snappers too. They are hard to snap on the first few times. I can load a quilt straighter with the snappers (better than with pinning). Renae has different lengths of snappers that you can purchase, 2", 6" and 4' for the 14' table. Since i float my tops, I took two of my 4' poles and cut them in half just to have another length of the snappes. With the longer poles, if you roll the free end backwards, then press down as you move forward, it opens the snapper up and makes it easier to snap down on the rail. I REALLY like my red snappers!

[GrandmaLKB]

I tried the Snappers and found them to be awkward for me...........I now have the zippers and LOVE them.  I have extra sets so I can unzip one project to work on another without having to re-align everything.

[Quilting Heidi]

I'm with Lisa.  I use the Red Snappers most of the time because they really are the quickest for me.  

[ThreadWaggle]

I have both zippers and Red Snappers, and have also made a leader that zips on for my Red Snappers.  I don't use them often.  It is the loss of space and the fact that if you jam that thing between your machine and the rail you get to pick out some stitching that I don't like.  I never take my extended base on so that make the issue more pronounced.  Plus, since I have Quilt Path now, I sit and pin the next quilt while Quilt Path is working.  It is not as easy to multitask with the snappers since they have to be free to load the next quilt.  For me it is just faster to be able to zip off the quilt I just finished and zip on the next backing.   Since I don't stand at the frame to pin on the backing, the snappers actually cost me more time then then using the zippers. 

 

I used them for about a month when I first got them and for about a month when I got my quilt path.  I really want to like them, but they just don't seem to fit into the way I work very well.  Right now they are sitting under my frame.  

[Resilient Quilter]

_{Thanks to all of you for your input.}

_{I like the idea of leaders with both zipper and red snapper options.  I'm just tired of getting poked when I pin, no matter how careful I am.}

_Andi

_{Resilient Quilter}

[shirleyl]

I also have zippers with red snappers zipped on. My friend had trouble with her hands her hubby cut them into 8 to 12 inch pieces and she likes it better. If you have someone around, have them work them on and off for a little bit and the won't be so hard to get on, you have to break them in as they can be stiff in the beginning. I got tired of getting poked and ruining blouses. You do need a little more backing tho!

Shirley

[marycontrary]

I used the snappers for a while, but also went back to zippers. As I think Heidi did at one time, my quilt zippers are sewn to about a 2 inch wide grosgrain ribbon leader on which I have marked the center and inches out from each side of the center. Then, starting at the center, I staple about every 2-3 inches on both the top and bottom of the backing to these ribbon leaders. I usually put a couple extra staples at each edge, then zip both the top and bottom onto the frame to the take-up bar and the backing bar.

 

You have to have the right kind of stapler, as a regular one would be very awkward. Don't know what it is called, but the staple part is at the front with a plate that turns, and the back part is made to be hand held and squeezed together. They are not available everywhere -- found mine at an office store. I float my tops, so only have to staple leader ribbons to top and bottom of the backing. When I'm done quilting, I just scissor cut the backing off the leaders close to the ribbon while the quilt is still on the frame, leaving about an inch. That inch can easily be pulled off the ribbon. If you are careful, the staples will come out easily with the small amount of backing fabric and you can bundle it up in your hand and not drop any. Then this handful of fabric and staples, goes right in the trash!

 

This has become the easiest and quickest method for me, and doesn't hurt my hands as much as pinning or the snappers. The grosgrain has held up very well.

[cstucke80]

You can snip off a longer snapper into smaller pieces to help in lining up your quilt.  That was easy to do and I love being able to have extra rod sizes to fit my needs. 

Connie

[klwheeler]

I'm using home made snappers. Love them.. heard about magnets but never tried them...