OK, so I saw an ad for the Flynn quilt frame, but I don't have 130 bucks plus shipping to buy it. I figured I could build myself a frame in a similar style as that one, and I'm hitting a little bump in the road.
I got everything set up, and it works alright, but my fabric doesn't slide up and down on the pvc pipes very well. It rolls back and forth very smoothly, but up and down, well, not so much. I was thinking of getting some castors and putting them on my wooden end pieces, but I was hoping someone else had a better idea for me.

Here's what I'm talking about.

Melanie, just last night, I showed DH the Flynn frame and said you could make me that!! Have you watched the video thats about 30 mins long? He goes into quite alot of detail, and mentions about balancing a bag of peas on one end to counterbalance the weight or something, thank you so much for putting this up, I will now go back to DH and show him your handiwork!!

Let me know how you get on!! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

ya, I watched the video, and thought the same thing as your husband, I can totally make that! I bought some 2" x 6' wooden poles to use as rollers. I drilled 1/4" holes in the ends, and glued some 1/4" dowels cut at 4" long, and drilled 1/4" holes in some 2x4 boards cut at 16". I also bought some 3" PVC pipes, 2' long, as support. Assemble as directed in the video, and voilà!

Melanie, you have got my brain over active!! Its 4.30am here lol!!

How do you get the tension on the rods, he uses some sort of bolt which he tightens??

i have the flynn i got it for like $70 including shipping from all brands.

i'm able to move my frame with a twin size quilt on it with just my index fingers.

i think the problem you're experiencing is because you have your piece built mainly out of wood which is very heavy.


i'd opt for putting wheels on the bottom.

Hmmmm.........very interesting

Hi - My partner made me a quilt frame a fornight ago, I was going to start a thread on it but ill health has put a stop to that. Anyway it works fantastic that I could tell with craig having a go with it.
The 2 part carriage rolls well, fabric stays tight on the poles. I'm going to make cloth leaders for it in a couple of weeks & screw them on to the poles for easy installation & removal of quilt.
The carriage wheels are just sliding screen door wheels.
I hope the pics might give you some ideas - :D

Oh NIk, that looks very interesting, can you show us something you have quilted on your homemade frame, I live in Spain and there is NO CHANCE of me ever being able to afford to have a frame shipped to here, never mind afford the initial cost, so any help would be really appreciated :wink: :D

Hmmmm....hadn't thought in this direction. First, I need to solve the problem of having room for a frame, either a DIY or "store bought". Then...these look great..lots cheaper...and can say you did it yourself!

Hi Izy - I have only had a chance to have a 2 minute go on the frame so far (had a ms relaspse the day before it was done - BUGGER!!)
I wan't to try & put a proper quilt sandwich together at the end of the week & give it a go.
There's still a couple things for us to work out with it but we are more than happy to help with any needed plans.
The 2 minutes on it that I had seemed to work really well just had tension issue with cotton underneath of fabric that turned into birds nest - which I have to work out with the machine.

Oh Sorry about your MS, hope it passes soon Nik!!

As and when you are well enough to get practising, I would love to follow your progress, you look as if you have a very talented Hubby there too, it looks very proffessional please tell him :wink: :D

The holes I drilled in my end pieces are JUST the same size as my dowels, and they fit rather tight in the holes.

My original idea was to drill guide holes for long screws, attatched to knobs like you would have on a drawer or something, but I couldn't find any knobs with screws long enough to go through the thickness of my end piece and far enough into the poles to stay put, plus, eventually with the screwing and unscrewing it would wreck the wood in the pole.
With the dowels, I'm thinking of drilling tiny holes through the ends that stick out past my end piece, and put a small rigid wire through all three ends to keep the tension. Like the thickness and rigidity of a metal coat hanger.

I like the price of the one mentioned from allbrands, but I dont understand how to adapt it so I can put bigger quilts on the frame... maybe I'm having a blonde moment and it's just not clicking in my head, lol, maybe someone else can fill me in?

the flynn frame comes with rails that can take a quilt 48 inches.

if you wish to quilt a top large than that you would buy electrical conduit at the home improvement store and cut that down to whatever size you need for the large quilt. you would attach muslin leader strips.

you attach the end caps that came with the flynn onto the ends of the cut down electrical conduit and you're good to go.

I see, ok, that sounds interesting.

Klue

Does the Flynn frame work well for you? Do you find any drawbacks
to using it with your home machine? Sewlady

the only limitation i have is not with the frame but with my sewing machine.

the throat on my sewing machine is about 6.5 inches - i would prefer to have a 9 inch throat machine.

i use the flynn to quilt my "all over" or "background" designs and i'm able to use needle down and advance the quilt to the next section. so its not as limiting as you'd think.

then i take the quilt off the flynn frame and do the more complex designs that don't work well on the flynn - like a 12 inch feathered wreath for example.

i haven't mastered how to do a large feather on the flynn with the small throat that i have - its just easy to do it free motion on my extension table.

i'm extremely happy with the purchase.

but my fabric doesn't slide up and down on the pvc pipes very well

I don't know what you mean by this but on my frame the take-up pole (with fabric rolled as quilted) has to be up off the machine bed. It really drags if it isn't....doesn't look like your frame can be adjusted up and down. Am I looking at the right thing?

After researching for months, I decided I wanted a frame that was stationary and the sewing machine did all the moving around. I know myself well enuf to know that a Flynn-type of frame would have driven me batty (or battier!) I finally found plans on the internet to build a quilt frame at http://buildaquiltframe.com/default.aspx. I'm lucky that my DH is handy because he built it for me last fall. Two weeks ago, we put a Janome 1600P with a 9-inch throat space on it. I am in heaven! It works beautifully. Now I have to learn how to use it! I have photos posted on www.hulahoop1.blogspot.com.

You can't see it very well in the pics, but the pvc pipes are a little higher than my machine, so the rods supporting the quilt are up off the bed of the machine.

Nik, I know this is a older post but I am very interested in making a frame like this. Do you have any kind of plans? Or can you tell me what was used for the carriage? Is it light weight? Can you fold up to store when not in use? Can you work it from the front instead of the back of the machine so I could be closer to the work? He also wanted to know what the bike brakes are for? Sorry for all the questions. My DH is very handy and am sure he could make one for me.

You all have given me hope that someday maybe my hubby will build me a frame.