My First Quilting Frame: The CUTIE Table-Top Frame.
It was March, we were at our cabin and I saw an advertisement online for a home quilting frame. This advertisement changed my life! The advertisement was of a quilting frame that sat on a table top AND the frame could be stored away. This frame allowed you to use your domestic sewing machine…whatever you already had, with some limitations.
At the time, I had been quilting on my domestic machine pushing the quilt around and getting basic results, nothing fantastic. I never dreamed of owning a quilting frame, they were just too large and too expensive. So, I expected to continue fighting my quilts around for as long as I quilted.
I quickly ordered the Cutie Frame and waited for the delivery.
The wait…
When I placed my order, the delivery date given was in two weeks. After two weeks, I called the company I ordered from and was told the Cutie was on back order and might be four to six months.
During the wait, I decided to buy a more suitable domestic sewing machine, the Jazz II, with a larger throat space than either of the Brothers I owned. I used the time to become really familiar with the settings of the Jazz II. This is something I highly recommend to all new users of any frame. Knowing your machine thoroughly before introducing a frame is crucial to a successful quilting experience.
The Delivery and Familiarization…
The day came and my new Cutie finally arrived. I quickly and easily put the frame together and carefully mounted the Jazz II on the top carriage. I struggled a little to get the practice quilt I had put together hooped into the frame. But withing a few hours, I was quilting!
I had to relearn so much of what I knew about free motion quilting (FMQ). Everything on the frame is backward of what you do while wrestling with the domestic machine on a table.
I started out using two rolling sewing carts lined up back to set the Cutie frame on to quilt. I soon found that this was not the ideal setting. So, I bought a Husky workbench that worked out perfectly. The Husky under the Cutie and my domestic sewing machine on the carriage provided the perfect hoop frame setup.
With this setup the entire topography of quilting changed, like never before. I am now able to cut out and piece my quilt tops, load them on the Cutie frame, and in a matter of days have a quilt ready for binding. No longer is the process expanded by the months needed to hand quilt or by the weeks needed to struggle with machine quilting.
The Cutie frame is the single best gadget in my quilting studio!
