A Leader in the Quilt Room

That's me!  The Queen of Everything around here!

Zipper system

When I awoke this morning I thought about leaders.  The kind that attache the quilt to the quilt frame.  I want new ones that are easier to load a quilt on then the ones I have now.

I know there are those with a huge zipper, but I don't feel confident enough to make a perfectly straight line with a zipper.  My sewing skills tend toward the Modern, Modern Art if you know what I mean.  My mother could do it with 100% total precision.  That is probably why I do not do anything with 100% precision.   But I digress.

Snap system
From Regina's Quilting Studio photo

I possibly want leaders that attach with that new leader snap system.  It looks easy enough to do and set up.  They average around $70 so I wonder if I had a good leader already, I could make a set myself.  It looks easy enough to do.  But I have to find the things that snap on to a dowel or tube.

Leader markings

I need to hang around the hardware store for a while and pick men's brains.

Meanwhile, I will ask the superior brains of women, have you ever used a zipper?  Did you buy it or make it yourself?  Have you ever used the dowel and snap system?  Where did you buy your leaders from?  are they marked with a lot of increments?  What are the increments?

Mine are plain, but I can mark them if I have help.  Maybe, I can't cut anything straight or the same length twice.........