LOADING A QUILT ON A GRACE FRAME VIDEO

Due to the size of the video I have put it in three parts. Hope it works okay for you. Note, I am a beginner also, so hope this helps other newbees.

Ladies, I will post your comments and ideas on how to do things better below.

4/20/08 I just watched your video and I thought it was just great. This will help a lot of new quilters I think. And by the way thats how I do it too. lol So if it is the hard way we are in the same boat. Colleen Lydon

4/20/08 - What a great Video... Thank You for all the time and effort in putting it together... grace

4-20-08 Thanks for doing this video!!! I teach on the grace frame and it is so hard to explain how to load a quilt…. Another resource for my students! Wenda Coburn

4-20-08 Thank you for making the video. I was wondering where you got your clamps for holding your quilt tight?
thanks again Bonnie from Utah

Do you mean the side clamps? If that is what you mean, they came with the older Grace wood frames. I tried some other things but went back to them as they keep the poles together better. If you mean the black plastic clamps, they come from a flea market in FL. Check local hardware stores and also sometimes "dollar" type stores have them. Marianne

4/20/08 I loved your video. It did help me as I was putting my quilt on wrong....thanks again! Great ideal.....Bonnie

4/20/08 Very good video. Thanks much. I also have the original grace frame. I love it. I did get the new carriage that came out last year. It makes quilting much easier and much more smoother. I just do charity quilting so I have gotten a lot of practice. I have found that the more you quilt the better you get. thanks much. Have a wonderful day. Hugs. Dolores

4/20/08 Thanks so much - you are awesome!! That helps so much. I'm not even a newbie - I'm a wanna-be, but getting closer. I have visualized so much just from reading, but the video really makes it all make sense. Sue K in Indiana

4/20/08 - How wonderfully thoughtful of you to tape your quilt loading for others to learn from!! That would have helped me so much when I
first started quilting and I am sure it will be a big help and much appreciated by those first learning to frame quilt. Kudos!! Barb in AR

4/20/08 - Great video!!!! I noticed that you have a PCQ… When you want to do free motion do you just unplug the PCQ and use you machine on the PCQ carriage ? I am a new PCQ user and was thinking that I would like to incorporate free motion with computerized quilting… I have a set of handi handles that I could use. Do you have a puck if so do you disconnect that also… Thanks for all the help…Nina in Lakeside, Ca

Yes, I leave the machine on the PCQ carriage at all times. I unhook the belts (side to side and forward and backwards). There are instructions for doing that in the PCQ group files that I put up. I find it works very well without having to buy a side mount. Yes, I do disconnect the puck from the PCQ but leave it in the sewing machine. I then attach the yellow start and stop button to the puck and select the speed I want on the puck. I move the puck on top of the carriage where I can reach it easily.

When I am using the PCQ I reattach the belts, put the puck back under the servo and connect it. and I also have a pause button and thread cutter box that was made by Mike that I use so I can do those things from the front of the machine where I also keep my computer. I had to rewire the pause button on the PCQ but it was no big deal. That switch stays connected for both methods (free or PCQ)-Thread cutter is used from the front in FM, but pause of PCQ is not used during FM. (yellow stick from puck stops the machine from sewing) Clear as mud?? Marianne

4/21/08 -Thank you for your video. You did a great job! Jeannette in CO

4/21/08 - I really enjoyed your videos! It's the first time I've ever seen how anyone else loads a quilt, and it makes all the discussion so much clearer. Like you, I read all the instructions and then kind of had to figure it out on my own, so there are some things I do differently, but it's great to see someone else's take on this!
The main difference between the way you do it and the way I do it is that I don't load the quilt top or backing on the takeup roller first, I just start with loading the backing and then the quilt top on the payout rollers. This isn't so easy to do when the leaders are so short, so I just made longer leaders. Mine are probably about 18" or 24" long, depending on the roller I'm using them on. They are long enough to reach the table and lie still on it while I pin things.
I have marked the center of the leaders and the center of each pole, as well as the center of the table on the frame. First I move the sewing machine carriage off to the side, then I let the end of the leader lie on the table, and then pin the end of the backing or quilt to it. Once I have the backing and top rolled up on the payout rollers, I let the leader for the takeup roller hang down on the table and pin the backing to it. Then I layer the batting on top of the backing and pin it to the backing (I use very few pins for this) and then pin the quilt top to both the backing and the batting. Gail

4/21/08 -I haven't had Grace frame and Juki very long and your video is really, really helpful. Thank you so much for doing this. Deb

4/21/08 -Thank you so much for making this video. It really cleared up a lot of the questions I had about getting started with my Grace II. Mary

4/21/08 - Marianne, Thanks so much for making those video clips of how to load a quilt on a frame. That would have saved me lots of time in the beginning when I was learning. I have done 4 quilts with my old gracie frame and Pfaff....and hopefully will get a long arm someday when I have more cash. The old gracie will have to do for now. Thanks again for your contribution....I know it will help the newbies!!! Cheryl

4/21/08 - Marianne, Your video is great. It is the first time I have seen someone else load a quilt on the original GMQ. I have loaded a few quilts, but it is great to see how someone else handles the job. I have never figured out how the velcro and zippers work on the leaders. Maybe someone else would do a little lesson? Thanks for doing the video. Jeanne in GA where the weather was perfect today.

4/21/08 - Marianne, thank you so much for the video. I watched the entire episode and you did a wonderful job. And my practice quilt was loaded all wrong. You showed me what I did wrong. Hope you can get some air up in that attic sewing room, mine is in the basement and I freeze to death in the winter. Bobbi

4/21/08 - What a great idea and thank you so much for taking the time and effort to teach us all! You are a delight and I only wish you lived closer! Hugs, Deb --Deb Johnson (Quiltbeeme) Finish Line Quilting Service Reasonable, beautiful, fast!

4/21/08 - Marianne, I think it is wonderful that you made the video. You may be a newbie, but I give you an A+ for trying and succeeding. This will help a lot of people. Way to go!!! Lori

4/21/08 -Marianne, I just watched your video and have to say thank you. It's nice that there are people out there who care enough to share. I have the Gracie II frame with a Juki98QE and love my system. Naturally, like everyone else, I dream of the 'big one' some day, but for what I do at the moment, it works well. One thing I noticed is that you pin to your take up bar, roll up on that, then roll back to your quilt top lever. I don't know if it's the difference in frames (the Gracie II frame has the quilt top bar lower and out a ways from the backing bar) but I usually just pin to the backing bar and roll up, then pull enough to attach to my take up bar. I make sure that is all smooth and then I do the same with quilt top. I pull my backing up underneath, between my backing and quilt top bars and lay it across the backing, I then pull my quilt top over top of that and smooth all three layers, checking for centering. I then put a few pins in all layers about 3/4 to 1 inch down from the quilt top - I use my machine to baste all three layers together (stitching above the pins) then remove the pins, and I'm ready to go.

Something else I do (especially with small quilts) I made up side pieces out of muslin. I made strips about 5" wide and about 60" long. I baste these to the side of my backing using about 1/4". I then have plenty of width on my backing without the need of a lot of extra fabric. Like I said, I use this especially with the smaller quilts where a single width of fabric is just enough for the backing, but doesn't give you the 'extra'. Then the strips are easy to remove before binding. Thanks again for thinking of everyone and posting you video - Great job done by a pretty lady. Katie M.

Hi Katie,

Maybe I am making myself more work by pinning/rolling on the take-up bar then back to the pay-out bars. I will have to try it without that step. I have mostly been doing large king quilts and I figured (or read somewhere!) that was the best way to do it. Next time I will try pinning directly on the appropriate pay-out bar and see how it goes. Marianne

4/22/08 - Hi,
I have been lurking here for awhile, trying to learn how to post, read etc. I just had to say that I just watched all three parts of your
video and was really helped out allot. Gees, the Little Gracie company should hire you to do their instructions. You did such a great job! I also love your quilting attic. I wish I had one. It looks so cozy up there. Thanks so much for the video. I hope you don't mind but, I saved it to my hard drive for reference when I load my next quilt. Big hugs Betty
I have dreams of insulating and fixing up the attic for a studio. Someday maybe....

4/23/08 - Marianne, I enjoyed watching your video. I have a attic like yours but mine is stuffed with junk thanks to DH. My sewing room is in a converted dining room I took over. Mary

4/23/08 - Hi Marianne, I don't really roll my top until it's quilted and goes onto the take-up roller. it's floated, just like the batting, hangs over the front. If it's a real long quilt, I just pin it, and the batting, out of the way. I run a row of basting stitches across the top and either pin or baste down the sides after (or sometimes before) I quilt that area. Being I'm not using the middle pole (where you roll your top), I roll a section of painter's tape where I want registration points--where I want the sides of the quilt to end, or quilting rows should be, where the batting should be each time, etc. These are horizontal (up/down) points, of course. This helps to keep the quilt straight as I roll. Sometimes I use pins stuck down at these points instead of tape.

I've been doing a lot of practice on quilts that an 80-year lady makes and they are NOT square, or even. Doing them this way allows me to "wiggle" them where they NEED to be. Also, it's quicker as I don't have to pin as much, or "un-pin" when I'm done.

Usually I use clamps to hold the quilt tight on my backing row. My clamps are just thin-wall PVC pipe the same size as my rollers. My hubby cut them into 3" to 5" lengths, then cut about an inch out of the middle (long ways). This lets them slip on easily, though if your pipe is flexible enough, you won't need to do this. Serves the same purpose as the clamps you use to hold the quilt in place while you work with it. Kay in Adrian MO

4/24/08 - I have a zipper on all three leaders. That may not be the correct way...but it's how I have done it. I looked on several websites, and that is how they are sold (APQS, etc.)

I first pinned my zippers (each one completely zipped together) to the leaders from one end to the other. I used pins about every two to three inches, positioned so I could sew over them. I then used the quilt machine to sew the zippers on, removing pins as I went along. Once I did that...I went back and marked all zippers with the roller number (my rollers have numbers, as does their corresponding slott on the frame), then I marked the center, and two other sections (for reference) of each zipper section while
zipped onto the leaders. I also added notations using a pigma pen to help me and my sister in law (and anyone else who may later use momma machine) be sure to get the right zipper pinned on the quilt parts correctly. It took a bit to get them as I wanted them...but now would not ever do without them again.

The quilt is pinned to the zippers, matching to the center mark..even if it was a 20" sample...it's pinned to the 125" long zipper. The zipped zipper slightly stiffens the leaders & helps keep them from tangling or flopping while rolling the quilt. Margie Campbell
Campbell's http://www.lmcam1.com/ (under construction) NuStyle 2100 Visit my Webshots Albums http://community.webshots.com/user/margecam52

Thanks Margie - very useful information. Enjoyed your webshots. Beautiful quilting and beautiful family! Marianne

5/8/08 - I am a beginner with a New Joy Magic Frame, but your video of loading a quilt is still a great help. Thanks. Cile60

5/8/08 - Thanks so much for the video. It's really the first time I saw one set up and how it works. .... Thanks again Patty

5/9/08 -

I just wanted to say thank you and tell you how much I appreciate the video. Thank you for taking the time to do it. It was very sweet of you and it helped me a lot. I have loaded quilts a couple of times before, but watching your video gave me insight on how to do it faster and better. Sandra

5/11/08 -

Hi Marianne, I watched your video ... nice job. You are not doing anything the hard way - unless I am too! I was taught by a professional to load just the way your do. Anyhow I have one suggestion. A friend of mine is a long arm pro and she takes a pvc pipe - attaches the loop end of velcro to it - then batting sticks to it very nicely. You can then roll your bat to it and leave in on the floor all rolled up. That way you don't step on it! The pvc is light enough that it does not interfere. In fact it helps keeps just a little tension on the batting for you. Candy in Poway, CA
Sounds like a great idea! Marianne

5/12/08 - This is so helpful to be able to see exactly how each step is done. Wish I had seen this 3 years ago! You did a great job! I have the GMQ with a Janome 6500 on it. I took a class to learn what you have taught. From that class I did learn there was an easier way to load the quilt, but it is so nice to have this handy reference. I will recommend it to friends who have the Grace Frame.

One answer to Judy on the Pattern Perfect. I bought all that was offered at the time with the frame. This is something that I, personally wouldn't buy again. I feel this restricts my movements and like the FM quilting better, my stitch length is better also since I do not have the stitch regulator. Hope this helps answer any questions about the pattern perfect. Thanks again for making this video!

Alice, OH