About floating the top ?

 

I almost never float a top because

 I like the tension of the top being attached both top and bottom.

 

When I do float a top I pin the backing as I would normally

I lay the batting on the backing and stitch a

 straight line using my channel locks.

I use that line to lay the edge of the top along

to make sure the top is nice and straight.

Then I baste that top edge down to all layers.

I would normally pin the bottom of the top

to the leader and roll it up and quilt away.

BUT... in a float.

The bottom is not pinned to the leader

it just lays over the belly bar and floats towards the floor. 

 

 

 

 

I have these magnet  bars.

I normally use them

when I need to toss the finished

 quilt back on to correct something.

OK so it is not really finished or

 I would not be putting it back on the machine

but sometimes you just miss quilting a spot or

 you change your mind and want to add something. 

Any way I use these bars for that and for tossing on a practice piece

to test thread or tension or just to doodle.

They work great.. they are strong magnets and hold well. 

So I decided to use them to float these baby panels.

 

Here the backing is all stitched

 together and loaded as one long piece.

The panels are floated.

 



A side view with the bars holding the panel to the belly bar

 



A close up view

 

And a view from the back of the machine

Notice how nice and smooth it is laying.

The tension on the panel is really very nice.

I quilted the first panel with no problems

Honestly I am not sure floating the top

 saves me time. I won't use this method often

but it was nice to not have to pin each of these panels.

 

These magnet bars really do hold nicely

no shifting or pulling at all.