Originally Posted by quilter2090

First thing, you can quilt any size that you want, you just have to buy from the hardware store different lengths of metal tubing. I went to my local Runnings and bought the largest size they had and I will cut the tubing to fit my quilt. You put the Flynn multi-frame on a table and if you are quilting a queen or king sized quilt, you put 2 tables together. You measure the height of your sewing machine and then you buy PVC pipes to fit your sewing machine. When I bought my multi-frame, John Flynn has a DVD enclosed to set up the machine quilting frame. Also, Mr. Flynn has been on Fon's and Porter's Love of Quilting. Mr. Flynn demoed the frame and showed how to set up the frame and he showed how to quilt with it. I have neither the money nor the space for a longarm quilting machine, so I wanted a frame that I could assemble,put on a table,quilt and then disassemble. The nice thing about this frame is that you can use it for machine quilting or hand quilting. When you disassemble the frame, everything but the metal tubing and PVC pipe stores in a small box. The metal tubing and PVC can be stored in your garage.Mr. Flynn said that many quilters have different size metal pipe to quilt different sizes of quilts. There is a learning curve, but, as with anything there is always a learning curve. I have read some of the posts here about the Multi-frame that they hated it because they tried it once and didn't like it. Trying anything once and then quitting is kind of silly. Think of how long it takes to learn to write, to learn to ride a bike, to do pretty much anything. If you want to check out the DVD for the Multi-frame, go to Flynn's website and scroll down the page,and you can watch the DVD that I got when I bought the system. You can click on it and see if this is something you want before you buy.

Originally Posted by cricket_iscute

I have a Flynn frame and have quilted many king and queen size quilts on it, not to mention smaller quilts. All you have to do is get bigger wood rails, which are not that expensive, from the lumber store. If you want to do a smaller quilt, use the smaller rails. It is easy to use and good for basting. It does require space.

I have knee problems and can't stand long, but when I previously could, I often used this frame. You put the machine perpendicular to you, needle facing you. Any machine will do. You put PVC pipe lengths under the frame so it moves smoothly. I used to stand and steer it with my hips. It's easy. You can do any quilting pattern up to the width of your harp. In fact, if I can do a sitting system, I'll be using it again, and almost exclusively.

Let me tell you how it saved the day for me on one quilt. I make a lot of quilts for homeless people. I bought a top at a tag sale without looking closely at it, thinking it would save me some work. When I got it home, I saw it was more than 7 feet long and about 100 inches wide. It had a zillion very small pieces, and the seams were popping on most of them. What was I going to do with this mess? I got a warm back for it and warm batting, and put back, batting, and top on the Flynn Frame. It's very easy for one person to do. Because the pieces were so small and the seams went every which way, I decided to do a micro stippling job on it. Standing and steering with my hips, I did this easily. It took 12 hours. I crossed every seam at least twice. That baby was not going to come apart. I bound it and took it to the homeless shelter with other quilts, thinking it was easily the most ugly quilt I had ever seen. It had green and orange and purple and brown and absolutely everything else, with no plain fabric on which to rest the eyes and no pattern I could find. I did not expect anyone to want it. But a young man named Bill, 14 years old and 6'11 inches tall already, approached me and shyly asked for the quilt. He explained that they only had one blanket there, and no heat at night. He was always too cold to sleep. If his feet were covered, his chest was not, and vice versa. So of course, I gave him this very warm, densely quilted quilt. He took it in his arms, ran his fingers over it, and a look of awe came over his face. "Ma'am?" he said, "Ma'am, this is the prettiest quilt I've ever seen!"

So I do recommend this frame and, furthermore, I recommend anything that John Flynn does. He is an engineer who thoroughly thinks things out before releasing them, and makes many prototypes before releasing any product. And yes, I am fortunate enough to know him. He showed me how to use the frame himself, but that is not necessary. It is easy enough to learn. It's easy to assemble, and easy to use. For the money, you can't beat this frame!

Cricket