oldpiglady

Hello everyone...it's been awhile since I wrote for advice. It's been 2 years since I did any longarming (at my favorite LQS) and I forget how to attach the long zippers to the backing. Already have the top done. And I know this should just be very obvious to me...but when I want to attach the long zippers ...do I lay my backing fabric, on the floor, right side up...or wrong side up? HELP!? Bless anyone that can help me.

QuiltnNan

i can't help you with your set up. but when i made my leaders, i took a sharpie and wrote the instructions right on the leader [zipper in your case]. that way, i always know how it's attached to which part.

PaperPrincess

You need to call your LQS. The zippers need to be attached so that the zipper pull starts on the correct side. It all depends on how they set up their end of the business.
You will probably lay the backing face down, but again, contact your LQS!!

oldpiglady

Yeah...I ended up calling them (LQS) just now. Got it all explained perfectly. I guess it was 2am this morning when I wanted to do it and could NOT remember how. I feel so foolish. But thanks for your your help.

BTW...I was lucky...the zippers came already labeled which one goes where.

Sigh.

labtechkty

Don't know much about Long arm machines, so I ask what are zippers, are they like leaders that are attached to the roll bars and then attached to quilt top?

dunster

Not everyone who longarms uses zippers, but they are popular with places that rent their longarms, since a customer can attach them at home and that reduces the time needed to load the quilt at the longarm rental place. They're also used by some longarmers since they make it easy to take one partially finished quilt off the longarm, replace it with a higher priority quilt, and then re-load the original quilt.

When zippers are used, there's a short leader attached to the pole, and that leader has one side of the zipper at the other edge. The quilt back is sewn onto another short leader that has the other half of the zipper, so the two leaders can be zipped together.

labtechkty

So they are "real" zippers..Thanks Dunster, that's what I had thought but you never know..

oldpiglady

They are 'real' plastic tooth zippers. I got the 144" ones. Around $25. And they will last forever. (Unless your house burns down around you..like mine did. heh heh