Quilting Hoop or Embroidery Hoop???

Terry White- a famous quilter in many different types of quilts and quilting

recommends the Morgan No-Slip hoops. I have used everything from cheap to expensive wooden and plastic hoops with a snap in inner ring or a screw on outer ring with success. But this No-Slip hoop is amazing! It's well worth the investment (not all that much more expensive than a cheap hoop!) for it's much superior holding power and very sturdy construction.... I use it for free motion embroidery and thread painting- both by machine. It's also excellent for hand work. I can't praise this hoop enough. I have no doubt it's going to last for the rest of my lifetime and then some and I'll enjoy every minute I'm using it. ;-) Good luck with finding what works best for you!

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

I would suggest you look at an embroidery hoop, and then a rug hoop. An smaller embroidery hoop isn't strong enough to hold the burlap tight. The rug hoop is made much stronger. Many years ago I knew someone who hooked rugs, using strips of wool cloth and she did not use a hoop. She won local awards for her rugs. So if you decide you can not afford to buy a hoop, then don't use one and don't worry about it! Lots of people don't use a hoop and place the burlap on a craft table in front of them. My friend, a teacher, took hers to school and hooked during her lunch break, just holding it in her lap. Barbara in SC

Michelle, I've not used a hoop when doing the minimal amount of 'rug hooking' that I've done in the past. I will say - check JoAnn's fabrics if there's one nearby( NAYY). They do have a variety of styles and their prices can be pretty cheap. I use a basic wood 'quilting' hoop for my hand quilting and for roughly $2-4 each, it doesn't pay me to spend lots of $$ for a 'good' hoop. Their basic wood ones work peachy for me and last at least several years before the 'head' breaks and I need to replace it. I can buy tons of those over the years for the $50 or better that a 'quilting' hoop is going to cost me. Just my experience and 2 cents.

Kim in NJ

OK. This is my experience.

Jot down what your needs are. Do you need to keep the stuff taut, or flat, or still? Do you need to keep flipping it over to get at the back (so managability is your criterion)? Do you want/need to use both hands at once? What stitches/techniques are you going to use.

Then you have your choices:

1) Nothing. Advantages: Cost = $0; Ability to get at any part of the work at any time. Portability. Disadvantages: Awkward to use both hands to stitch at once (though it is certainly possible)

2) Embroidery hoop: (round and thin) Ads: Fairly cheap; easy to obtain; great for small and/or/ light pieces; keeps thin stuff taut; still; with access to back; possible to use two hands; easy portability. Dis: Thick fabric or thick worked areas can lose tension or get marked; heavyweight fabric is too heavy; need to move a big piece frequently especially is stitches or patterns are big.

3) Round quilting hoop: (round and deep; sometimes called a tambour) Ads: mid-price; easy to obtain; strong enough to carry heavyweight fabric; then same advantages as embroidery hoop. possible to exchange outside ring for bungy cord if the need is to keep work still and to use both hands, but tautness not an issue Dis: thick fabrics and work areas can get crushed ( always remove such at the end of a session to prevent this); square pieces can be difficult to tension without pulling which can distort the grain (not always, but sometimes); the depth of the ring can get in the way.

4) Q-Snap or other pipe-based system: Ads: variable sizes using the same componants; can be made floor standing; easy to move fabric about; rectangular; can deal with thick fabrics; tension can be tweaked from stitch to stitch if desired (by turning the clamping rods); demountable for portability Dis: not cheap; not so easy to obtain (not in UK, anyway); need to retighten the clamps periodically (boiling water and some string); cand get a bit unwieldy on big pieces; if you go floor frame, no access to underside; the pipes can be a bit deep as above, especially on the floor version.

5) Slate frames (4 flat pieces joined together, not two sides and two rollers) Ads: keeps everything taut, flat and accessable; easy to use two hands; can be made any size. Dis: can be expensive (not always, and you could make one yourself at a pinch); should be bigger than the piece you are working on(!) but again this CAN be got round, especially for carpet making, but it entails pins (or nails; or clamps) and is a nuisance; big pieces, ergo, are awkward to manhandle.

6) Rug frames Ads: Made for keeping things taut and tensioned Dis: Expensive (the ones I've seen); big; can't get easily to the back; static.

Try some out if you can. But first determine what you want this contraption to do. Start in your hand and see where the frustrations occur and let the hoop/frame address those. Any one of the above could be ideal for you, but only you will know which. And before you go on any recommendation, remember that these things are as personal as the peron who uses them. One of my grandparents swore that quilts should only be made 'in-hand' where the other wouldn't pick up a needle without a frame. It's (I'm afraid) horses for courses.

I use loads of frames for my work, and none, it so depends on what I am doing and what I need to achieve.

Hope this helps (rather than muddies the waters too much)

Nel (Gadget Queeen)

Going down some dirt roads here - Back when burlap wallhangings were the 'in' decorator thing (even before macramé, I'm thinking), I made a sort of hoop for my burlap. I basted a scrap edge to the burlap and stapled it to a big wooden picture frame from the attic or junk yard. When the production was complete, the temporary edge to the burlap was removed. No costs at all. My other memory of that venture was that burlap stinks. Does it still? and can anything be done about it. Polly