indycat32

I had some major tucks in the backing of my quilt. Fortunately they were at the bottom. I have removed the stitching from an approximately 16-40 inch area. Can I re-load the quilt, with the now unquilted portion at the top and just drape the rest of the quilt over the frame?

feline fanatic

You could but the stitching may give you some tension issues due to the bottom half of the quilt not having any tension on it from being on the rollers. Additionally I think you would be inviting another tuck or pleat to happen on the back if you didn't attach it to the front roller. Why risk hours more work by skipping a step that would take you half hour at most? I would baste pin the bottom portion to the front roller if this was me. By baste pin, I mean you can use a lot fewer pins than you normally would when pinning to roller leaders.

Tothill

You will need to have tension on the quilt. Floating a top works because the backing is taut. You will need to roll the quilt onto one of the bars.

Or if you have clamps like are found on the Little foot frames, you can use them to provide the needed tension.

indycat32

So even though I would attach the backing at the top of the quilt as usual, the weight of the quilt (it's queen size) wouldn't create enough drag/tension?

feline fanatic

I feel it would not. But go ahead and try it. May work wonderfully or may end up being another session of ripping and requilting.

Macybaby

I have gotten around having to roll the end by rolling fabric on the front backing roller and then draping the quilt over it, and pinning it to that fabric. My HQ likes a pretty loose quilt, so for me this would be to keep it loose enough, If I just draped it over and left it, it's more likely to end up too tight. I'd also want to make sure it stayed constant and I didn't accidentally pull one spot more than another.

JT

I've reloaded several quilts on my longarm. Depending on how you are quilting, pantograph or free arm quilting, could impact the degree of difficulty in loading. If it were me, I would load it the same direction as it was originally quilted. If you turn it around, you will be doing first time quilting on the end on the quilt working back toward what was previously quilted. In doing so, I think you could run the risk of a tuck or wrinkle where the two meet. If it's a pantograph, it could totally change the line up of quilting. Something to consider...

soccertxi

I reload my quilts alot as I turn to them to quilt borders. I load the backing and float the top, using long magnets to hold the top onto my top roller. I would be glad to post some pictures if you like. I have also used bicycle clips to hold the top in the past with good results.

AliKat

You can use the Harbor Freight strip magnets to give tension to your top. The important part is to adjust your angle if needed because the straight line of quilting could be off a tad. On my Avante [or even my old HQ16] this isn't a problem.

indycat32

thanks to everyone for your expertise and recommendations. The quilting was freehand loops so I'm not concerned about lining up the previous quilting . I have some thinking to do. Thanks again.