amyfaith Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 I followed instructions from Bobbi on purchasing fabric for leaders. I got lucky and have a lady coming over tomorrow (yipee) to inspect my machine (very used Ult 1) and give me longarm 101 on using and caring for my machine. I have still not attached the leaders and can put it off no longer. The top roller is going to have a 60 inch leader (is that too long?) and the other two rollers will have 30 in leaders. I know I need to serge the edges, but have no serger. What do I do? Can I do two straight stitch lines and then come back with a zig zag between? I did not find out I was getting lessons tomorrow until about 20 minutes ago. I am SO excited, but don\'t want to embarass myself w/ improper set up. PLEASE HELP if you can;) To top it off, she referred me to a gal in her shop that was putting together a free hand class. Turns out the class is Wednesday. Hey, if you are going to jump, might as well do it with both feet right! So tomorrow is 101 and the very next day is freehand class - lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 Holy cow, you are going to be to excited to sleep for the next few nights!! Anything to finish the edge so that it doesn\'t ravel. I\'m sure others will jump in here and have different ideas than I do, but you can do just what you said. I wouldn\'t turn under the edge because you may need the edge to pin to a quilt at some point. Yes, 60" is plenty. You do mean 60" from the roller to the edge you pin the quilt to...not 60" length of the the roller?? How big is your table? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyfaith Posted March 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 Yes, I think I am doing to have quite a hard time sleeping tonight and tomorrow night. It is like a quilter\'s Christmas Eve over here I have a 14 ft table. The leaders are 4yards long by either 60 or 30 inches. It looks like the previous owner only had 30 inches on the take up roller, so I was not sure if I needed all 60 inches. I am going to turn the edge under twice for where I will be pinning, but was afraid to turn under the other two edges that will be rolling on top of themselves because I thought it might get a little funky. Does that make sense? Amy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 If the edge that you are pinning to is a selvedge edge you won\'t need to turn it under, just leave it. 60" could be over kill, 30" would probably be fine. You just need enough to bring it under the leveler bar and back up over the take up roller to pin your backing fabric. Mine has quite a bit, but I have a quilt loaded so I can\'t unroll it to tell you exactly how much. Turning the edge under that you pin to is where I would have concerns. Mine is just a selvedge edge with zippers sewn on. Someone else who has the edge sewn can chime in here and let us know if that works....where is everyone when I need them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 OK if you don\'t have a serger, I think you could zig zag along the edges, or perhaps if your sewing machine has a different edging stitch that is similar to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyfaith Posted March 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 Oh, great answers. The lady coming tomorrow is bringing zippers, so I will just cut, try to sew the raw edge so that it will not unravel and tape the raw (and stitched) edge to the roller. If this is way off, she can help me when she gets here. As for the side edges, I will work with what I\'ve got to keep it from fraying. Keep your fingers crossed for me - and if anyone has suggetions, still feel free to chime in. You ladies are the best! Amy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 Bear with me please--sometimes I need a visual! You have two hunks of fabric for your leaders. One is 144" x 60" and the other is 144" x 30". The selvedges are on the shorter sides because the WOF is 144"? Don\'t turn under the sides if there is selvedge there--that is not necessary and will build up on the rollers, as you said. Before you attach one end to the roller (which you won\'t need to finish--it only needs to be exactly straight as you attach) mark a straight line on the pinning edge being careful to be, again, exactly straight. Do a close zig-zag stitch, as Shana suggests, right on the line. You may mark the line a couple of inches in from the edge just for ease of sewing and handling, and then trim to within about an eighth of an inch of the stitching. This should secure the edge and strengthen it for pinning. Also, it will keep the edge from stretching. I imagine a doubled edge would be a bear to pin through. And I would also suggest that you won\'t need 60" for the leader unless you want to keep it safe all rolled up on the roller for later use. You would never need that much. Have fun in your classes! You will be up and flying in no time!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyfaith Posted March 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 Okay, I have a very long rectangle 144x30 (making all 3 leaders the same size). I am going to use the selvage edge to pin to (144), attach the other long side to the roller. The only thing I am not sure about are the 30in sides. They are raw edges and need to be finished, but I should NOT fold them under right? Just do the tight zig zag to keep from fraying? I sure hope this is tranlsating right - I know pictures would be better - sorry:( Thank you all again for helping out. I have been checking for replies - you guys are awesome! Amy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 Don\'t fold under... just do a zig zag on the raw edge so that during the "zag" part of the stitch, the needle just barely goes off the edge of the fabric (leader) and that will be similar to serging the edge. PS: Don\'t zig zag so tight that the leader edges scrunch and ripple; you don\'t need to zig zag super tight stitches (as in satin stitch) just do a nice zig zag that lays flat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 How great that you will have a seasoned pro to help you. BTW---see what she says about floating the top. If you are comfortable with that technique you will not need to install the leaders on the top roller. Just a thought and we don\'t want you overwelmed before you get started!! Have a great time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeke Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 :cool:It\'s really nice here in sunny CA. Amyfaith, I have done this before with a Gammill PDQ machine. If you have not attached the leaders, go find some one with a serger. You can also go to a local quilt store or one of the big stores, JoAnn\'s Hancocks, to see if they have a machine you can use in the store. In your reference to a zigzag, it will be ok for a while, but will need to be serged at some time. Keep on quilting...............zeke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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