I have to make sure to clean the floor under the machine before loading a new quilt and then, as you said, keeping the top out from under your feet can also be a challenge. I have not done a super large quilt yet, but it's coming and I may have to use the leader for the larger quilts as you did.
Love this.. i have this tape measure and wanted to use it like you just showed and love the Wonder Clip tip BUT do you attach the tape to your machine of do you float it as well? I was trying to see but could see it.
The tape measure is also floating. For this size quilt, it was easy to keep the zero mark in place, but it's easy enough to stick a pin in to hold it. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure I will end up with a top that needs enough easing that I will also need to pin the top in place in order to get it lined up with the proper marks on the tape measure. The pins will only stay until I've basted the top into place for quilting. I hope this makes sense and helps.
I don't understand how a floating tape measure will actually do anything. Doesn't the tape measure need to stay in one place so that it doesn't move with the quilt? I don't understand how it will help you keep the quilt top straight as it could easily just move with the quilt top.
As I mentioned in another comment, the tape measure is floating on this quilt because it's small enough that I can hold it in place at the zero mark and still measure to both sides. For larger quilts, I would pin the tape measure at the zero mark and then also pin the top if easing was necessary until I put in the basting stitches. Once I know that my top is straight for the current pass, I remove the tape measure and baste the top into place. When I advance the quilt for the next pass, I get the tape measure out again to check where things are at. My apologies if I didn't make that clear in the video. We generally only do one take of each video and sometimes I forget things.
The tape is also floating. If you have trouble keeping the zero mark in place or need to reposition your top, you can use pins to keep it in place temporarily. I haven’t had any tops yet that needed much repositioning but if I do in the future my plan is to temporarily pin the top in place based on the tape measure markings and then remove the pins after I’ve basted that pass in place.
