Frame recommendations, pretty please?

Connie, cant ya do like grandma had. just 4 rails covered in plain muslin to pin the quilt to and those screw down C or is it D clamps on each corner to hold the rails in place while using it. change length of the four rails to suit current project. simple as can be i'd think. how/what you use to pull it up to the ceiling should be easy too, just not in my brain now. i need food. j.

"SewVeryCreative" wrote...

Before you buy or build a frame, try this--set up your ironing board at a comfortable height for your chair. Put a straight chair behind the board. Roll up the basted quilt. Put the roll on the straight chair, drape it over the ironing board, and pull what you need to work on over the board and into position to hand quilt. No frame, goes up and down in 2 minutes, lets you reach any part of the quilt when you need to. When you've reached the middle of the quilt, roll it up the other way and start again from the other side. It's really easy to get good results this way!

Monique in TX

>

I used a floor frame for years, c-clamps and rails with cloth stapled to it, set up on chairs. I liked it a lot but, there wasn't an easy way to tilt the frame or raise or lower it to a height that I liked. Also, I needed at least one other person to load the quilt and to turn it as I quilted. I also used a large frame lap hoop -- you know it sits somewhere and you can swivel the hoop and tilt it as you like. This was good for smaller and more portable projects.

Then about 10 years ago my dh got tired of dancing with the traditional floor frame and I got a Grace floor frame, I think it is an A34, with a fourth rail for batting and love it. I can load the quilt myself and turn it with one hand. It also folds up nicely and I can store it if I have company or want to put away my project for a while. The kit comes with rails for twin to king size quilts.

One consideration -- you can't host a bee with the A34 very easily because it has a very narrow panel -- which is great for me because I can set it up so that I look right out the window when I quilt and not take up much room in the living room. But if you're into group quilting, get a full sized floor frame and probably you've got lots of people to help you with your quilt too.

Enjoy!

Maureen > I've always been a "lap quilter" - for the past 10 years - and I've always=

Wren had written this in response to

: My grandma had the same thing!! She had it in her TINY house in the living room and she would keep the quilt in progress rolled up to the ceiling and then bring it down to work on it. She rarely had a quilt in the frame for more than a week though because she and her friends worked on it together. I recall that she had 4 hooks in the ceilings (like you hang plants on) and then had a cord or rope tied to each corner of the frame. She then looped the cord around the frame corners over and over to get it high enough to walk under. I am probably not describing it well but I can see it in my mind!

To your question though...I to am mostly a lap quilter and a few years ago I bought one of the very nice Hinterburg (spelling?)free standing frames but never got the hang of it. It always felt like I was sitting at odd angles and my back hurt after a short time. Most likely it was just me as others have said they love it but I ended up selling mine after about 6 months and I gratefully went back to lap quilting. It also took up more space than I anticipated and I was happy to have that back too. Maybe you can try one out before you buy it? If you are in a quilt quild you may be able to try quilting on a member's frame?

Wren

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I like this idea for trying it out. Like Connie, I usually quilt in a lap hoop. I also have a somewhat larger hoop on a floor stand that I like for big quilts, like bed quilts, but most of the time, it's a plain old hoop held in my lap. I like being able to turn my work when the stitching changes direction. I've tried quilting on a frame and I find it awkward to change the direction of my stitching when I can't turn my work. If you try the ironing board idea and don't like stitching in that position, you haven't invested any money for something you don't use.

Julia in MN

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m> Before you buy or build a frame, try this--set up your ironing board at

I have one of those frames, and desperately wish we could hang one on the ceiling here, because I'm certain i'd get SO much more done. The only difficulty would be the light in the middle of the ceiling, but I"m sure that could be worked around, too. Oh, well, eventually we'll own our own home and i can do whatever I please then.

I like my lap hoop. I live where it is cold, so having a quilt draped over you is a good thing for much of the year.

However since I got the commission on those monterously huge silk paintings (which looks like it will be ongoing), I came to the conclusion that I really needed a monsterously huge frame in order to work on them more efficently. It being huge meant I had to make it sturdy from the get go, just to avoid parts sagging and all, so it will work for quilts as well.

So I went out and got me a mess of 2x4s, a couple of them 10 feet long (one size common for the paintings is 9ft^2), some hangar bolts and attendent hardware, and some other nuts and bolts. I basicly made a pair of 10 foot long hurdles, where the horizontal on top can rotate (hence the hangar bolts, with washers and nuts to go with them). To brace up the sides, I cut two 4 foot 2x4s and arranged them side by side (on each side of the frame) and drilled matching holes about every foot or so. So as I work on the painting I can slide one side back as I unroll the silk, and then bolt it in place when I have as much new area as I will work on stretched. The best results in silk painting are often obtained when you do not overlap wet and dry, so being able to cover a large area while the paint is still wet is important. I figure by the time I get down to the last foot or so on one of the 9 foot paintings the first two feet will be dry enough to cautiously roll up.

When I get over being sick I will pad up and cover the cross bars. Then I can let you all know how it worked.

NightMist

I would like to have one of those frames that hang from the ceiling for the looks if nothing else! Most of the rooms here have ceiling fans so that is a no-go. There have been more than a few discussions on frames here so you might want to google. I got one of the Hinterburg kits and made a 3 rail frame years ago. I absolutely hated quilting at it. It was really large and I never really got the swing of quilting in enough directions. Several friends got one about the same time with similar results.You can make rails for a variety of size quilt though. A few years ago I got a Grace Hoop that is on a floor stand. It was not cheap but I enjoy using it. It folds up pretty small when not in use. The hoop is sort of square and rotates. It looks fairly nice just sitting in a corner too. I have just a small oval hoop about

12"x20" that is ok to use schlepp> I've always been a "lap quilter" - for the past 10 years - and I've always