DIY PVC Quilt Frames
Quilting with a hand-held frame even for the expert quilter can become hot and cumbersome especially when quilting curves. While you can do hand quilting holding a small frame in your lap, a quilt frame that stands alone can hold your quilt up, giving you free hands to work and making the task a lot cooler. For hundreds of dollars, you can buy a quilt frame for hand quilting, or you can make one yourself out of PVC pipes that will last just as long.
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Things You'll Need
- 12 PVC pipes, ¾-inch, 30 inches long
- 8 elbow joints, with three openings, 90 degrees with side out, ¾-inch
- 4 pieces of 24-inch long pre-slit polyethylene pipe insulation
Instructions
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1
Pair up the ends of two PVC pipes at a right angle. Place an elbow joint at the ends to hold the two pipes together. Push the pipes into the joint to form one corner set. Make three more corner sets to make four.
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2
Place two of the corner sets in front of you with the "side out" portions of the elbow joint facing up. Adjust the two elbow joints of the sets to be opposite one another to form a square shape. Attach an elbow joint to the newly formed corners to secure them and complete the square.
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3
Repeat Step 2 to create a second square with your other two corner sets and the remaining elbow joints. At this point, only four PVC pipes should remain unattached.
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4
Place each of the four remaining PVC pipes into the "side out" portions of one of your squares so they stick straight up into the air. Lift and rotate your other square so the "side out" portions face down. Align the PVC pipes that are sticking up with the elbow joints to complete the frame body.
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5
Spread your quilt out over the upper square of your frame and position it where you want it when you are ready to work. Use the pre-slit polyethylene pipe insulation to hold the quilt in place by opening it along the slit and slipping it onto the four sides of the upper square, catching the quilt between the two.
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Tips & Warnings
To make the frame more permanent, consider gluing the joint areas to the pipes with PVC glue or liquid cement.
References
- Photo Credit quilts image by Christopher Martin from Fotolia.com
