Easy Quilting

Many years of quilt making have convinced me that stitching a quilt to the frame is the easiest way to get the job done. I use selvage edges of old sheets to make sleeves wide enough to slip over the four frames. Using a sewing machine basting stitch, I sew the back of a quilt to the edges of the sleeves, slip the frames into the sleeves, and clamp them in place. I then square up the frame and pin the filler and the top in place. Then I’m ready to quilt. As quilting proceeds, I remove basting stitches from the end frames as far as needed so that I can roll the quilt. I repeat this procedure until the quilt is finished. I find I both save time and can do a better job. I’d never go back to thumbtacking a quilt to the frames.—Hilda Kolowinski, Puyallup, Washington

Illustration by Warren Archer II

Photography by Marilyn L. Erd