purplemem

No, you don't have to have leaders.
You just load into the slots.
However, it is suggested that the quilter draw a 1/2 inch line on the quilt top and mark the middle of both the quilt and the frame. The leader is already marked for pinning, that is the only advantage.
The leader cloths from Grace are $90.

c2cd2008

You are right, you do not HAVE to have the leaders, but I do suggest using leaders. You can make them yourself, I did my first set. Yes they are expensive.

One of my complaints is that there is not a lot of information out there on these pieces of equipment. For instance, the leaders did not come with a set of instructions. And I felt like I needed some help with them. So I looked at the company website and I looked online..... Not much help there either.

Perhaps I can do a better pictorial and turn it into a PDF and post it somewhere where people can get more help with these things. I will see if my friend who visists with me will help me put something like that together. She is good with video as well, so maybe she can help me put something together like that too.

RedGarnet222

I bought the little garcie II and they do need the leader cloths. I also bought the fourth rail for the batting adn a few other upgrades.
Anyway, I was confused at one point about putting it together and called the Grace company. They sent me a free video that has lots of helpful information on it. I got mine the same as you the sew and vac on line shopping site. They were very fast getting it up to me within four days!

They are made of muslin.

Oh, did you get the Quilt Cad program with it? I sure have enjoyed using it to figure out my designs to quilt the tops. A little tricky at first, but it prints out the templets nice.

c2cd2008

I did get the DVD and love it, in fact I watched it again night before last because I had not watched it in so long and knew I was a little rusty. The Ole Miss quilt was the first to go on the frame in about six months because of work. Now that I am out of work I was eager to get into the swing of things again, but nervouse.

I have the quilt CAD and to be honest. I have printed out the PDF manual and have it in a 3 ring binder plastic folder but have never taken the time to really learn how to use it. I messed with it a little bit last year but never really got anywhere with it.

Also, when I ordered the pattern perfect, it either did not say or I missed it, but it is to fit the new carriage upgrade. Being I just dropped over $300 in this I did not feel that I really needed to drop another $150 into the upgraded carriage at this point. So we are as I type this looking for a drill bit and we are going to modify the carriage I have in order to make it work with what I have. I want to upgrade the carriage but I will wait a few more months to do that do my DH does not get cranky. Between what I spent on the leaders and the pattern perfect and last nights adventure in the fabric department I think I better lay low for a little while *wink* I will let you all know when we get this baby modified and will get some pictures of when I load the next topper on it. I have a stack of UFO's! I would love to work on.

ceannastahr

Here is a site to check out she has loads of information on the frames and leaders. She recently wrote a book that deal with the home frames and mid arm machines
http://www.kathyquilts.com/customer/...?productid=999

I have a Grace sturdy light frame with a Juki machine. I attach my leaders to my quilt pieces then attach the leaders to the frame using the tubing that fits in the groove.

sewjoyce

OMG, that looks so complicated -- now I remember why I have my big quilts quilted by a professional :roll:

ceannastahr

I was so made two moths after I got my frame they added the quilt cad sure wish I had it but can afford to buy it so I"ll make do the best I can

c2cd2008

We were finally able to comeplete the modification. We ended up with a lot of company today. I will post the updated pictures tomarrow (Sunday)

c2cd2008

The pattern perfect is now installed onto the frame. Because we do not have the carriage upgrade we had to modify the carriage a little bit, which was not a huge problem because it is wood it was easier to drill holes into.

First we had to remove the machine from the carriage and turn it on its side to drill two holes for the stylus to be mounted into.
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../Justin160.jpg[/IMG]

We drilled two holes into the very back of the carriage.
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../Justin161.jpg[/IMG]

In this picture you can see the stylus has been bolted on.
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../Justin166.jpg[/IMG]

This is a cloder view of the stylus
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../Justin164.jpg[/IMG]

The pattern perfect is laid out and are snapped together with plastic pins at the top and bottom of each frame. Then bolted on to the frame to keep them from moving as the carriage moves inside the grooves of the pattern.
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../Justin165.jpg[/IMG]

c2cd2008

When we get ready to load the machine for the next quilt I will get some pictures of that as well and post them.