Homemade Quilt Frame

I had wanted a quilt frame for a long time, I make a lot of quilts, and last summer decided to make one. The total cost for the frame I made was about $30. I purchased two 8 foot long 1" x 2" smooth finish pieces of wood, and two that were 10 feet long, and 4 C clamps. I then took some leftover cotton material and cut it into 6 inch wide strips, I then folded the material in half lengthwise and in half again and pressed it with an iron. I made eight of the folded strips, each was approximately 44 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide, and 4 thicknesses of material. Using a staple gun and 1/2 inch staples I then attached the material strips to the lengths of wood,leaving about a quarter inch of the strip hanging over the edge of th e wood. I did not leave space between the staples as the strips need to stay firmly attached. At this point the frame is finished, it took me less than an hour to make.

To put a quilt into the frame I simply attach the backing of the quilt, using pins, to one of the fabric strips attached to the wood, I then attach the opposite side to a second frame piece, then take the C clamps and hold the two pieces of frame in place on my supports. (I have two bar stools and two arm chairs from a dining room table that I use to support the frame, they hold it a comfortable height so I can sit at the quilt to work on it). Once the top and bottom of the quilt backing are in place I then begin to pin the sides to the remaining two sides of the quilt frame, and then hold all pieces of the frame in place with the C clamps attached to my supports.

Once the quilt backing is in the frame, simply lay out the batting, then center the quilt top in place and pin the edges. Everything is now ready to quilt. As you finishing quilting a side you can undo the C clamp, roll the quilted part of the quilt around the frame and then fasten the clamps again.

I use my frame in the basement, as you can see by the picture, the quilt that is in takes up a lot of room, it is approximately 90 x 90. The nice thing about this frame is that I can use it for any size quilt. When not in use the four C clamps and the four pieces of frame are easy to store.

The pattern in the quilt pictured is called Jewel Box.