Grace Machine Quilting Frame
 

I think this is the original. It looks like new.

I've searched here and on the net, but can't find this info...how much is one of these worth and are they worth it for the amateur home quilter who can't afford a long arm and doesn't have room for one?

There is one for sale nearby with a machine for $975.00 obo. (Remember, this is in Canada, so they would have paid more for it than you would in the US.) The machine doesn't have as big a throat as mine, so it is negligible although I could use it as a spare. But, I'm wondering if this frame could be useful?

Any comments on the frame itself?

Thanks, Watson

Grace makes several different frame models, do you know which one it is? Or even the size?

I had a king size Gracie frame and it wasn't much smaller than my HQ frame. I paid $1,000 for just the frame, and that was several years ago.

Mine was pretty easy to assemble/dissemble, adjust size (it could be set up three different widths). I sealed all the wood pieces before I assembled as they came raw wood, but that is not required.

Mine came with a metal carriage, and also had plastic rails, but they could be replaced with stainless steel bars.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps17d63d99.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psda9e6753.jpg

the good part about buying one used, you don't have to deal with the full assembly

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps56bfd7a4.jpg

Here is the picture...
[ATTACH=CONFIG]589799[/ATTACH]

I've got one also, all apart. Looks just like that one, only mine has a stitch regulator and pantographs.

PM'd you, BattleAxe.

Watson

I don't think a used Grace frame would be worth that much. One of the problems I've seen with Grace frames is that the rails tend to bow in the middle, especially on the larger frames. Hinterberg frames are very good. They are no longer made, but the company still sells used ones:
http://www.hinterberg.com/stretchframe.aspx

Also, it really is best to buy a frame and machine together so you can be sure they work together. Not every frame can handle every machine. If the Grace frame is working with a domestic sewing machine, then you can be pretty sure it can only handle a domestic sewing machine.

Edit: I just saw the photo you posted. I'm really not sure about that frame, but it seems to me the carriage is the size that can handle only a domestic sewing machine. Might be able to purchase an upgraded carriage that can handle a midarm, but they can be pricey. If the frame is old, it might be hard to find a larger carriage for it. You might want to find out how large a space you can quilt. The limitation is usually that, especially with a large quilt, after rolling you end up with only 3 or 4" of width available to quilt in.

There should be bungee cords that hold the sides of the fabric and where are the tracks for the machine carriage? If you do buy this one you will need the enders/ leaders to pin to that make it a little easier to load it for quilting. Some people bought the zippered kind. A laser light would be nice and a stitch regulator.
Check the grace frame site for your accessories and to see how it all should look set up.

I used to have a wooden Grace frame, but it didn't look quite like this one. I'm having difficulty figuring out how there is enough "travel" on the carriage to get the machine to the bars to quilt the quilt sandwich, however, that may just be me!
As Prism 99 says, the throat space of a domestic means you end up with about 3-4 inches of quiltable space as you roll the quilt onto the take up roller. For that reason, I upgraded to a larger set up and machine after I used the wooden one for awhile. It did give me a chance to have an affordable table to see if I liked the longarm concept.

Hi Watson, I have a wooden Gracie frame similar to the photo you posted. I bought it used for the same price that your seller is asking. I went to the Grace Company website and it appears they no longer sell the wooden frames, this is a new development as a year ago they were still selling them, for around $2,000-$2500 cdn. I have a Nolting Hobby Quilter on my frame, 16” throat, heavy duty machine but without a lot of bells and whistles. So you can easily upgrade to a longarm in the future and keep the Gracie frame. I’m not sure how the table/rail system compares to others in terms of smoothness as I haven’t attended any quilt shows and test driven other models. But I’m happy with mine, tried this particular used table and machine before I bought it. I know there are tables and machines out there that are a lot fancier than what I have, but I don’t have plans to longarm quilt for a business, so it was hard to justify paying many thousands of $$, this was a good compromise for me.

I bought a Grace SR2 frame last year....about 100 inches long. It does o.k. for baby quilts and some throw quilts, but won't do a queen or king size quilt. The problem with it is in the lower take up bar....one end is always jumping out of socket when advancing the quilt and then you have to push it back in and advance some more. I've spoken to others and they have the same problem with this frame. I have a Janome with a 9 inch throat on the frame which means I may only have 4 or 5 inches I can stipple or meander in at a time. For what I do it's o.k., but not perfect.

I had one very similar to that. the space that you could actually stitch in ended up so narrow and I found it very frustrating.
I did pay around that price for it. It came with a mega quilter machine and some kind of stitch regulator. My husband put metal tubes on to hold the weight of the quilt.

My first set-up was this frame exactly. I purchased the wooden pattern boards and a Brother PS1500 sewing machine with an 11 inch throat. I loved this set-up and it worked fine for me for 9 years. There was definitely a learning curve for me and I was quite frustrated trying to coordinate my sewing speed with my movement of the carriage...but eventually, I got it. I really loved that you could expand it to do larger quilts, yet keep it smaller when doing smaller quilts. Depending on what machine you get with it...I think it's a good deal. Just make sure you get all the parts and the rails and the carriage. I used the pattern perfect boards a lot and did stippling. The design of the carriage makes it hard to do a diagonal line...or maybe I just wasn't coordinated enough. But, I used that for 9 years and actually still have the frame and machine and carriage. I'm selling the pattern perfect boards to someone else on this board. I would still be using that set-up except my husband generously purchased an Innova 18" quilting machine and frame. Due your due diligence and find out as much as you can about it....just remember the learning curve (which you would have with any frame set-up). There is also a yahoo site for Grace Machine quilters...you might take a look at that too....I don't have the exact site handy. Good luck in your research and decision!

Hi All - New to the community.

We have a Grace Frame SR2 (Queen) and a JUKI 2000Q. My husband DIY'd the rear pantograph table so we could dabble with *print your own* patterns.

The first (and only) pattern we did was about 4" (point to point) and seemed to be working well until we got half way down the quilt and ran out of throat space. I understand the limits of the JUKI, but has anyone (with a similar set up) nailed down a process and/or proper size for this type of ETE?

Thank you!

One thing you can do is remove the quilt when you are halfway done and re-mount the quilt from the other side. In that case, I would start from the middle (where you left off) and work to the bottom.

If you want to try the above method, you might want to spray baste the sandwich together (ideally before starting on the first half, but you could also just spray baste the second half before mounting). This could make it easier to keep all the layers lined up.