That was my thought, to construct the frame would not be hard. But finding the correct sizes for the clamping might prove to be a challenge.

I have one. I love it. If you did make your own, where would you get the half that clamps on? It has rough line all along the inside, so it will stay clamped. I paid 88 dollars a long time ago.

I used one at the church to tie a quilt with two other women. I used a stool and it worked well for me. The others used chairs. If I were a tier or handquilter, I would buy it.

My DH made one for me, and he also made the clamps by grinding down and smoothing up. It does not have a rough line along the inside, but it has never failed me. It stays clamped just fine. I also had him make it not quite so deep. I couldn't reach all the way across the "real" one. I used it for hand quilting for a long time, now mostly for tieing. My old hands don't like hand quilting much now days :(

Thanks for everyone's replies! I decided to go ahead and purchase the frame. My father tried to make me one of these frames a year or two ago and couldn't find all of the necessary pieces at the local home depot or lowes so that was our problem with making it cheaply. Plus, at $45 I don't think I could hardly buy all of the pieces for that price especially if you consider the labor time.

Thanks again I always love reading the replies, so nice to have quilting buddies even if they are scattered all across the earth!

I made one and did have alot of trouble with the snaps that hold the fabric on. Of course I never thought to have my husband do any grinding or sanding.

That is a great price my husband made mine for me so I know how much it costs and the labor that goes into making one. Grab it!!!!!!!

just for the record. Q Snap frames have ribbing inside the snap on sections that help hold the fabric in place. before i got the Q snap one, i'd gotten one from J C Penneys. i hated it. then yrs later got the Q snap one. it's great. i kept the tilting legs from my first one and gave the rest away.

Buy it! You may not use all the time but it's very useful to have when you do have a need for it. I don't think I'd like the homemade one at all. The pvc you buy is thicker and heavier then the kind used for the frame.The joints are bigger and there is all those markings on the regular plumbing pvc pipe. The home store pvc is heavier and thicker then the pvc used for the frame.

I also have this frame. It's a good price, but the only chair I could find that was comfortable to quilt from was a straight back chair in the kitchen. I prefer to quilt with a hand held PVC snap frame that can sit in my lap while I sit on the sofa. (Sort of like a giant hoop only square)