Ready

Yesterday I wrestled with wood, fabric, staples, straight pins, batting and even a few little boys, until I got my quilt set up.

My quilt frame is extremely simple and extremely old. There are certainly more clever devices out there, certainly easier to manage parts and pieces, but I don’t own them. In my mind I have devised numerous ways that the process could be simplified and made more efficient, but I do not have the resources easily available to begin inventing new quilt frames. So…I work with what I have. As I’ve only produced a few completed quilts in my lifetime I imagine I don’t have urgent need for better right away.

My frame consists of differing lengths of 1 x 2 wooden boards with fabric attached. The fabric has been stapled on and is used to pin the quilt and backing along the board so that it can be thoroughly stretched out for quilting. The fabric has to remain tight in order to keep the stitching in the right place on top and bottom. I had to replace some of the fabric on these two short boards. The previous fabric, which I remember my mom attaching when I was little, was so old it was rotting away and would not have held up to all the pulling and stretching I did to get the quilt to lay flat.

Below is the quilt backing muslin pinned to the longer frame pieces. I remember mom stapling this fabric on too. These boards are temporary in this process. I used them to stretch the fabric out long ways and attached the short ends to stretch it out in one large rectangle. This allows me to pin the entire quilt into place before rolling up one end onto the frame for a smaller work area.

Above is the batting laid out over the stretched quilt back. I used a low loft batting, partly because it’s easier to quilt through and partly because this is a small summery quilt. I didn’t want it to become thick and heavy at all.

Below is the quilt top laid out and beginning to be lined up to pin in place. I love all the color. It’s so bright and cheerful now that it’s all put together.

And finally…below…after a lot of finagling I was able to put the shorter boards onto the quilt stands to finish the framing process. These stands are old…rickety…and wobbly. I would like to upgrade, but at the same time I love that they were my mom’s, that they have been so productive and I believe that they were made by my Reubdaudy. They still work well enough to get the job done and that’s all I need right now.

I have had the quilt tucked up against the wall here all day today. I’ve had a busy morning during the cool hours and it’s gotten above 90 again today which is just too hot. I’m planning to get out in the cool air tomorrow and get started on the fun part.