Alice Woodhull

I have the frame my dad's neighbor made for my mom out of poplar lumber from the farm I grew up on. It is a work of art and I love it. I do all my hand quilting of big quilts on it. It takes up the whole room so I'm clearing out space in my sewing room to put it up again as I have a large quilt to finish for a friend. I hope it stays in my family. The man's son would like to have it, but I think my kids will keep it. My son is single so I know he won't need it, but my daughter is beginning to get into quilting so maybe she will get started hand quilting when she gets a bigger house to put it up. I can't quilt in a hoop unless it is something small. Then my stitches aren't as good as they are in a frame where I have a lot more control over them.

athenascooter

This would be great to put your quilt on to tie. I don't have space to lay a quilt down and with my bad knees can't kneel. Lots of my friends use a couple tables together to lay their quilts on then they have to bend over and reach to the center to tie. This frame would be a great gift.

carolynjo

Keep it. You may find several uses for it. I made myself a frame years ago and have used it many times for hand quilting and basting.

tessagin

You have been blessed. I see no reason why you couldn't use it for sandwiching or tying. Possibly even for displaying. I would contact a bunch of quilting friends just for the heck of it and have an old fashioned quilting bee. Doesn't have to be big. ya'll could work on quilts for donations. Just have a designated hour for a bee.

Annaquilts

If there is no quilt in the frame it is also nice to have it set up in the living room with some quilts hanging off it like a giant quilt rack.

Emma S

I recently found a frame at a thrift shop for thirty dollars. I used it for sandwiching and Elmers glue basting for the first time recently. The whole process took me about three hours as opposed to over eight hours that is my normal time. It was physically easier, faster and every bit as fool proof as hand basting on a table.

maviskw

The quilt frame I "inherited" from my MIL consisted of four sticks: narrow boards with holes about a foot apart that are 80 inches and 90 inches long (two of each). They could accommodate about a 76 X 86 quilt. That was a full size quilt in those days. They may have come from the 1800's. The fabric was held on with thumb tacks.

Then my son made two longer ones (108 inches) with the baseboards from this house when we remodeled. Last year I made two more short ones (48 inches). Now I can stretch out almost any size quilt I care to make.

These were held together with C-clamps, but I figured out a way to use bolts in the holes in the boards. My friend used to use pegs to put into the holes, but they fell out too many times.
We support these frames with the edges of two tables with another table in the center to support the quilt (at the town hall), or support each corner on the back of a chair (at home). Here I would put a card table under the center so it doesn't sag as much.

I have put a sheet on it to use as a design wall, or as a display wall for small quilts and such in a show.

They've seen a lot of use.

Jeanette Frantz

I have a frame my husband built from a kit. He did all the wood work and the way it's made, it rolls the quilt up as you quilt. When he built it, I swore I would never do anything larger than a twin, so that's its capacity, right now. However, it could easily be converted to accommodate a much larger quilt. Because my husband built it before he died, and because it is so convenient (the quilt surface can be tilted to any angle you desire) I treasure it greatly.

Jeanette Frantz

swizzy

Noiseynana please share some details on the frame our husband made of PVC pipe. Did he make a slit the length of the pipe to fit over a same size PVC and this hold the quilt firmly in place?
I do have a purchased frame made of the PVC pipe but is so difficult for me to push it over the matching pipe once the quilt is layered. Other than that it makes an excellent frame Also have a small pillow size made of smaller pipe and like it.

mammaduck

Jan, I have just been gifted a frame similar to this one. Not sure how to attach quilt and how to roll it. [ATTACH=CONFIG]510676[/ATTACH]