question to all those with handy husbands
 

I know that many of us on the board are blessed with sweet guys who build things for us to make our quilting easier and more fun.
My dh is wanting to make a floor quilting frame for me much like the Q-Snap floor frame. We are on a tight budget and can't pay the 100.00 bucks at Joanns right now. He thinks he can make one for about 25.00.
Anyway, has anyone's dh made a quilt frame for them that might share some insight as to what and how it was done? He is most stumped on being able cut PVC to clamp over the frame to hold the quilt in place.
I have a small Q-Snap, so he can look at that one, but is still not sure how he might go about it.
Maybe some of the ladies have some suggestions too. I know that we can come up with some very good ideas as well as the guys. Thanks to all,Gina

Here you go!! http://www.ehow.com/how_4928734_make...ing-frame.html

i have a Q snap and love it although I've not used it in years. quiters warehouse has one for less than JoAnn's
http://store.quilting-warehouse.com/072038.html
the thing about Q snap is the ribbing inside the pieces that "snap" over the frame to hold the quilt. I first bought a frame that looked like this one but it didnt' have the ribbing and the pieces would not stay on the frame. drove me nuts. finally i bought the Q snap one and gave away the earlier one, except for the tilt leg option. i kept that. now it all doesn't fit in the box but that's OK. good luck hon.

I purchased a q snap frame last December and I love it, I have quilted a king size and a throw size quilt on it and it worked really great. We also looked at building one and priced the parts at the home improvement store and it was going to be almost as much as the one I ordered and we couldn't figure out how to make the clamps pieces with the ridges. I ordered mine from amazon and it had free shipping, here is the link. http://www.amazon.com/Q-Snap-LF-Floo...quilting+frame It is 65.98 with free shipping. I looked at the instructional link that was posted earlier and they are using 1 inch pvc which I don't think would be strong enough, the q snap I have the pvc is larger than one inch, closer to 2 inch. plus still the problem of getting the ridges on the inside of the clamp pieces. The ridged pieces work really great, it will hold even on the edge of the quilt where it is just the backing or backing and batting so that you can quilt closer to the edge of your quilt.

Thanks for the link. I will direct my dh over there. Gina

I love my little 17x17 q-snap. I hand quilted both my dd's twin size quilts on it. I would love to have a bigger space so I wouldn't have to move things around so often. Hopefully dh can figure something out. We noticed the ridges and knew that it would be impossible to replicate.

NativeTexan, thanks for the link. Will have to go over there too. It might be in our best interest to save up a bit and just buy one. What part of Texas? I'm from the Austin area and then from Lexington in Lee county. Miss it.

I have a (dumb?) question...do you still need to baste your quilt before actually quilting it using this frame?

I have used my Q snap frame to thread baste some quilts. It holds everything very taunt for pinning or thread basting. I do the center first and work out. I may have to re frame the quilt if it is a large size to get it all basted. All four sides of the quilt don't have to be clamped down when you get to the edges, just two opposite sides.

You can buy snap clamps of different sizes and lengths here and other places online. Prices are all over the map so if you like to save every penny possible, do some additional research. http://www.charleysgreenhouse.com/in...productid=1725. The snap clamps makes it easier to vary pipe size. I made one of these frames for myself and it worked great. Hubby also helped me make a king size wood frame and we used pipe for the legs. It's in the garage now, but I'll see if I can dig out the legs to show you how we did it.

I found that my clamps or snaps didn't hold the sandwich quilt tightly an neither, so I used "thin" potholders under the snaps or clamps, and it worked beautifully, very tight. My mother in law sewed the potholders for me but they were too thin to use in the oven. Try a scrap of quilted fabric or a thin wash cloth. I love mine. My husband built my frame with 3 /4 inch PVC pipe, but I use it only for sofa throws or crib quilts. It's very heavy for that size . He said he built it for less than $25. The clamps or snaps is what cost money, if you can find them. I purchased the snaps before he built the frame, and I use several on the frame. My husband is very fussy, so the cut edges are clean and no sharp edges. Go for it, I use my frame many times already.

I presume you are hand quilting with this frame. My Mothers frame was 2 X 2" boards. 4 boards about 6" longer that the widest quilt you will do. She stapled a strip of heavy material doubled along the edge hanging over 2" to pin the quilt to. You hold the corners together with C-Clamps. Open complete to pin or baste the lining down first, then the batting, topped with the top of the quilt
You can prop the frame on chairs or hang from the ceiling. You then quilt from one side rolling the quilted section up as you go. THis keeps the quilt tight at all times. Wish I lived close I have 2 sets of frames.

If you go to the qsnap website www.qsnap.com you can buy just the clamps, prices range between five and ten dollars. This might be an option.

Is a PVC frame what you really want? If you have a good pattern, a frame made from 2x4 shouldn't be too expensive.

You can also glue the rubberized shelf liner inside the clamps for better grip...

Do you have a hot glue iron? run a ridge of hot glue along the insides of the clamp pieces to help hold them tight against the fabric.

Yes, you still need to baste the quilt before you quilt; just snip the section where you are going to quilt as you get to it. Also, you may know to release the pressure on the quilt at night. Also # 2. Hope there are no kitties at your house because -can you guess there their new-favorite nap spot will be? Been there, done that! Good luck. If you are short like I am, maybe your dh can shorten the legs so you won't have to stretch or strain while quilting.

My husband built me one from the ehow website. We had trouble finding the corner pieces that had the 3 openings and he contacted a PVC company and they sent us what we needed for free. I found inexpensive clamps from a Tractor Supply Store, put the felted furniture pads on them and they worked great. You could also use some small scraps of batting to protect your quilt.

As I read this topic I am hoping that when your dh does make this for you , you iwll come back with pictures to show us. Love giving my dh things to keep him busy.
And then I read...do you baste....uhoh.....I never baste andnever will and I am a handquilter. I start the project in in the center of the Joann's pvc frame and then when I move it I go up, down, left , right and so on until I reach the edges....never a lump or bump in my quilts.
Of course, I am the kind of handquilter who uses every shortcut possible and still come out with a nice finished project.
Lots of good ideas and suggestions here.
And all the links were good one. Thanks to all.

This was my thought on the best way to make it.