Ritathequilter Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 Hi I'm having a great deal of problems with the backings becoming twisted and I'm wondering if the problems stems from twisted leaders. I've never replaced the leaders since I purchased my Milli 9 years ago. How often do the leaders need changing? I do have small pleats in the leaders which are impossible to get out. Has anyone else had this problem? Once the backing is loaded I've noticed that the left side hangs lower than the right side. Using the motor I will run it back and forth putting tension onto the opposite side, hoping to straighten out the backing so that it ends up being tightened evenly across the backing, but it doesn't always stay level so that when I quilt the first section there will be pleats and puckers on the back. It's very frustrating and I've wasted too many hours ripping. Hopefully someone will have some ideas to help me fix this problem. If it's the leaders, then I'll replace them asap, but hopefully there's another fix. Thanks! Rita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oma Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 I don't know if your leaders are causing the problem, but they're not hard to change. A little time consuming maybe. Either order them from APQS or go to JoAnn's and buy some "Ticking" or canvas fabric. Doesn't have to be super heavy weight. Keep it similar to what you have. I used the measurements of APQS leaders to decide how big to make mine. I finished the sides with my serger, did nothing to the edge I taped to the roller and double hemmed the other edge with an opening big enough to put my red Leader Grips into. I used Gorilla Tape to tape it to the roller. Make sure you cut your fabric straight and make doubly sure to have a straight line on the roller to tape it to. Roll them up and your done. I did all my sewing on my DSM and serger. There are lots of ways to do these and lots of instructions too. This was just simple and worked for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 Scroll down for the abbreviated advice! To load evenly, the leaders need to have matching center marks, which may not be in the exact center of each leader. You also need to check that your rollers are level. Check that the bolts that adjust to support the poles have the same number of screw threads showing. If there are more threads showing on one side that height difference will cause the backer to roll tight on the high side. The longer the backer is, the more distortion you'll have as you load the backer. Are your leaders the same distance from the ends of each roller? If they've been attached a bit offset, you need to determine where the virtual center is of your leaders. Unroll the back leader and drape it over the front leader roller. Do the edges line up? If they don't, mark the exact center of one and mark the other where the center mark of the first one lies. Pin your leader edges together, matching the center marks.. Unroll so they hang to the ground with the pinned edges at the bottom. Advance both ways so the pinned edges are in the middle and the leaders are tight. If one side is sagging, that means one leader has been stretched. You can try to wet them and let them dry while pinned together, with tension on them to see if they'll even up. If they don't become even, advance until the edge is rolled tightly on the roller. Mark the leader straight, using the roller length as a guide, using a chalk line or a laser. Do the same with the other leader. Pin the leaders together again, placing the two marked lines on top of each other. Use the same technique to unroll and then advance the pinned-together leaders to see if they now are level without sag at one side. If they're good, those marked lines across the leaders should be used to pin to, not the bad edge. You can cut them and stitch a hem or just use the line and not worry about the uneven edge. To condense--leaders need to be made straight or marked straight. "Centers" to pin to need to line up. Rollers need to be level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritathequilter Posted November 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 Thanks Oma. How long did you use your old leaders before replacing them? The leaders I'm using now are in great shape, but they have tiny pleats in them near where they are first rolled onto the roller....may have been like that since the day I got it...not sure about that tho. I do have a partial bolt of canvas here so will cut new leaders from it...if there's enuff. thanks again. Rita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritathequilter Posted November 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 LInda, I will double check the rollers. to make sure they are level. The head moves smoothly from one end to the other, and I have no trouble with binding of any kind while quilting so I've always thought everything was level. Didn't realize that it might not be and that could be the reason that the one side drops like that. the leaders I'm using were installed at the factory and we did find and mark center way back...a few years ago. I will check that again. Strange things is that these puckers happen more on flannel backings..maybe because they are looser woven, or more stretchy. Will do some homework following your msg and see if we can't rectify the problem Thx Rita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie in Ok Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 I have this same problem from time to time will have to check mine too again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted November 22, 2014 Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 We don't have bolts that will adjust our rollers on the 2008 Lenni. Someone showed how to handle the part of the leaders that don't have batting. I'm thinking I'm just going to add batting and scrap fabric to the ends of the leaders and see if that makes a diff. I usually don't have problems, but boy! When I do, I do. The next quilt will be the tell tale, as small community Service Quilt. Rita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oma Posted November 22, 2014 Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 Rita, I don't know how long I waited to change mine. A good five years this last time anyway. I change them whenever they start looking ratty or stretched out or when I'm just tired of looking at them. I think the last time it was mostly because I wanted to add my Red Leader Grips. Before that I added zippers so I changed them. Like I said...it wasn't particular hard. If the only problem with yours are the pleats by the roller why don't you take them off, make sure they are cut straight and put them back on without the pleats and see if that fixes things? I'm not sure the little pleats you are talking about would cause the problem you have. Follow some of the other advice about checking to make sure your bars are level. Follow Linda's advice first. I always attach my backing onto the back roller first. Roll it up smooth...then attach it to the roller closest to me (from the front) then roll it back onto it. That seems to smooth out any distortion. Hope some of the advice you've been given fixes your problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaahma Posted November 22, 2014 Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 It took me ages to figure out that my backing leader had a huge pleat in it (from when I first got my machine!). Now I just tug the pleat out when I'm loading the back onto the machine, and that seems to fix the problem. When these leaders are too gross to work with, then I'll change them out with new ones and make sure there are no pleats - although I'm kinda used to them now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micajah Posted November 22, 2014 Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 After you have changed the leaders and before you mark the centers.... Take your machine over to the far right, pull the head to the front bar and mark where the needle is hitting on the leader, Do the same on the far left. These marks are how far you can stitch from side to side, which tells you just how large a quilt top you can quilt. Now measure the distance between these two marks. Place a mark at the center point between them. This is the center of your frame. Transfer all three marks to all of the leaders. Now you have your center mark and end marks so it is easy to load your quilt back and top straight on the frame. Debbie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted November 23, 2014 Report Share Posted November 23, 2014 Rita, I meant to add, Welcome Back. Hope you will be able to stay with us.. Rita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caddyhomes Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 Thankyou. I suspected something like this! I will work on implementing your advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caddyhomes Posted November 26, 2014 Report Share Posted November 26, 2014 I do what most of you do when loading a quilt, I float, I use the channel lock, and keep horizontal lines parallel to the roller bars. I have considered all of your advice, read the threads you sent, and have unrolled the pickup canvas from the roller exposing the aluminum roller. On the right side on the roller itself, the side that is consistently feeding in the quilt tighter, is a 1/8" glob of glue from the factory, holding the canvas to the roller. With each revolution the quilt has been gaining 1/8" more on that side resulting in the distortion by the end of the quilt. I am going to chip the glue globe away, let the canvas rest, re roll the canvas pull up feed, and hope I have solved the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlrhash Posted January 17, 2015 Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 While my backs are not twisting, I have had the same problem on 2 of the last three quilts I have done. The top right quadrant gets puckers in almost the same place. Like an idiot I have been checking the backing as I roll but looking more in the center and for tension. Plus the two with problems have been dark purple and black print, making the puckers harder to see. On the first one, purple backing, I did try putting a pad onto the backing by the take up roller as it felt a bit loose. But, I didn't have any problem like that on tonight's black quilt. Any ideas what to look for so that this doesn't happen again? I did baste the quilt along the sides and top and it felt/looked square rolling it up. Tomorrow night will not be any fun as I pull out my stitching from my Swirls giant template. Then, reload and line the boards and quilt in the same position. Fingers crossed it works for me. Every time I start taking in quilts and think it is time to start a business for all over quilting, something happens to make me redoubt myself. My Millie is about 13 months old and I have done about 40 quilts this last year, and only 3 puckers. Now it is time to learn to stop them before they happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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