Monday, March 28, 2011

Flynn Quilt Frame

About a year ago, I purchased the John Flynn Quilt Frame that you can use with your home sewing machine.  Life just got in the way though, and I did not get around to actually trying it until this past week.  It comes with this little cd to teach you how to use it, and pay close attention to the picture....there will be  a quiz later. (You might want to double click and enlarge it.)

I actually had the priviledge of meeting Mr.Flynn when I purchased my frame and he had one set up and it seemed sooooooo easy!  Famous last words!



So I set all the pieces out, and even attached the fabric to the rollers - I am already to set it up for quilting.  Just have to attach my quilt to the fabric on the rollers.

Four hours later, and I am so frustrated, I can not get the fabric to roll up on the rollers straight.  I finally unsew the quilt from the fabric strips, remove the fabric strips from the rollers, and low and behold.......this is what I discover.....


The fabric that came with the kit was not cut straight!  Now you would think I would have had sense enough to check that BEFORE I attached it to the rollers.  I guess I was just too excited about getting it  on so I could attach my quilts.

I must admit, I did wonder why my fabric was not centered on the roller - but it never ocurred to me to make sure it was the same width on each end.

So after re-attaching the quilt to the rollers for the tenth time, ok I exaggerate a little - maybe 5th time, I am ready to start quilting.

Looks impressive, don't you think? 

Now what is wrong with this picture?  This is the quiz - what have I done wrong????  I struggled with this for a couple of hours as I somewhat meandered the quilting on my quilt.  Then the tension messed up, and I had to take it off, and of course that was it for me.  I set it aside for another day.

It was not until I decided to post on this blog, that I see the error of my ways. Do you see it yet? Look at the picture on the cd again.  Where is that darn role of batting supposed to be?
Yep, that's right, its should be the outside roll, and the quilt backing the inside roll, which would make it sooooooooo much easier to see what I am quilting.  Duh moment here. 

Another thing I learned is that you don't want to do this on a table with curved corners, so I am switching to a rectangular table.  I am going to give it another try as soon as I get off here, so stayed tuned and I will give my final verdict on this contraption.

On a much less stressful note, Spring is just blooming everywhere even if it has been right chilly the last few days.  Here is the dogwood right outside my home,  and here is the makings of my flower bed.  We have some very capable hands redoing the wall around the beds and then they are going to thin out the monkey grass.  The back bed will be turned into a rose bed.  I have been wanting that for a very long time.  There are a few roses in there now that my Dad and I planted together.  The guys had to stop work when it started raining, and it hasn't stopped so maybe in a few days we can see some more progress.

Thanks for stopping by,
Teresa
26443

14 comments:

Andrea said...

Ach - good luck with your frame. So frustrating when things don't go right from the off. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you xx

StitchinByTheLake said...

I'm going to be watching for the final verdict on this one...I've looked at those for years and wondered if I could actually use it. blessings, marlene

Helen said...

I have never seen one of those quilting frames! I'm eager for your next post so you can tell me more about it.

Your dogwood is gorgeous! I can't wait to start working outside in my yard, but it is still toooo cold here.

It won't be long now, so I'm just going to bide my time for a bit.

Hugs,
Helen

FlourishingPalms said...

It's difficult to see in your pictures, but I understand what you're saying. Though I don't use one of these frames, nor do I longarm, I do recall that the batting is on the bottom of a longarm. So, this makes sense. I'm sorry for the hassles you've gone through to set it up. Hopefully, once you have it figured out, it will be all that you hope it is.

Marj said...

I will be waiting to see what you think about the frame. A friend of mine loaned me her frame a few months ago. I have not been brave enough to try it yet.

Julie Fukuda said...

My frame is called a "hoop", round table is all I have, and without a machine I never have to worry about reading the "distructions", as my kids called them.

Susan said...

I am glad to see that someone is getting spring. I think I too will have spring after we move.

I will be watching with interest your quilting success with the new frame.

Raewyn said...

I often think how great it would be to have a frame for my machine like that so I will watch your progress with interest. The dogwood in flower is lovely.

Floss said...

Sometimes its best if we try thing out as soon as we get home, it always seems so easy when someone is showing how. Good luck let us know if it works better.

Khris said...

Cant wait to see what you think of it all when you get started again. Good luck...hugs Khris

Thimbleanna said...

Very interesting! I have a love-hate relationship with my Flynn Frame. In general, I think it's more work than it's worth and I hate that the frame rolls around on that pvc, 'cause it always falls off LOL! The good thing is that it guarantees that I won't have any pinches in my backing fabric. As I get better at machine quilting though, I've tended to not use my frame.

As for the mistake -- I don't roll up my batting at all. The front roller is just like yours, with the quilt sandwich attached. Then, the middle roller has the quilt top and the third roller has the quilt backing. I just roll up the batting by itself and let it float (and unroll) on it's own. It sits nicely between the second and third rollers with no problems. I'd think it would be really hard to roll it on a roller because of the bulk.

Also, do you mark the center of your fabric strip on the frame? I mark the center points on all three rods, and then match it up to the center points on my sandwich, front and back. That works for me and I haven't had any crooked problems.

Hope that helps -- Good Luck!

Candace said...

I'm interested in seeing how you end up liking your Flynn frame. I've thought about getting one. Kind of like the Accuquilt go, it seems like a good possibility but too much of an investment to just jump in.

Wendy said...

Sticking with it paid off for you. I hope it all works out in the end. I'm wondering when it going to warm up as well.

Unknown said...

My Grand ma used to sow. I love to watch people do it...its such an amazing art. I used to love to play in the cloth pieces that dropped on the floor it was so much fun. I wish you luck with the project.