I have convinced hubby that I need a quilting frame for Christmas. Being the kind, quilting-deficient soul that he is, his response was- "What's that?" After a horribly mustered giggle I tried to explain. The next question, as most of you will guess, was- "How much is a quilting frame?" I told him not to ask the question he really doesn't want to know the answer to.

Now... my dilema. This will be my first frame and I know there are many out there. I want to know from the quilting goddesses... all of you... what do you suggest? A wood frame, plastic piping... Please share your up's and down's so I can avoid the cheap one hubby would pick.

Blessings!

How handy is he? My father built me a frame several years ago. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles that some do but it works. He stained and then sealed it. It shines like a high $ antique. I got the pattern from Keepsake Quilting

i did a lot of research before getting mine. i decided on the Hinterberg stretch. you can make it any length that you have room for. the wood is very sturdy. they also have kits for DH as the other poster suggested.

Do you hand quilt or machine quilt?

I have a plastic one that a lady gave to me. Ive used it once...and soon I will be using it again. :) I like it.

if your going to be using a smaller throat machine say 9 inches on a frame then i would go for the New Joy Magic frame since it allows you to quilt a 12 inch block using a 9 inch machine.

plus if you ever upgrade to a large throat machine you can sill use the same frame.


here's a link

http://www.newjoyquilting.com/magic_quilting_frame.html

It sounds like you are talking about a hand quilting frame.

So, my questions would include:
- how big do you want it?
- how much room do you have for it?
- how much are you willing to spend on it?
- is hubby handy enough to make you one? There are several different patterns free on the net now. and ... Do you want a homemade one?
- are you going to use it a lot?
- would a hoop be easier for you to use?

My first hand quilting frame was from one of our parishioners. It was basically 2 long poles with cloth tacked onto the long sides. Then there were 2 shorter boards that were 'spacers' for the long poles. I put the whole thing up on top of 4 chairs to do my quilting. Luckily we had a very big living room. When not in use or having company over it was disassembled and the long poles were place in the corner of the stairwell. I wish I had been able to keep them. They were positively historic.

Unfortunately I no longer do much handwork. Oh well.

ali

I will be using it for hand quilting and at this time I don't have space for a large one. I

I am trying to argue the point of a garage compared to the need of a wonderful craft room but I'm not getting far on that.

You might look at an Ulmer hand quilting frame.

I have a Hinterberg Classic, and I'm very happy with it. It came with two sets of rails, one set is 60 inches, the other is 92. I'm pretty sure Grace Company makes frames that can be enlarged later, too.

If you know someone with a frame, you might want to try quilting on one before you buy. It's different from quilting in a hoop, in that you can't turn the frame like you can a hoop. I learned to quilt away from myself as well as towards myself, and I get great results because the frame is so sturdy. It also keeps the quilt up off the floor and away from curious cats.

Janet

I went to a friend who does wood working, and asked him if he could make me quiltsticks. He never heard of them, so I wanted 110" wood strips, 1"X2" with holes on about an inch apart. He made me 4. 110" is for a King and with holes an inch apart you can make any size on down to a dollie blanket. Ofcourse you must have a big enough room for it. They store flat on the floor against a wall so you fall over them. Now this would be for us older folks, how I`ve done it all my life. 10 to 1 you younger folks are talking about some other kind. I think mine were $40.00