Table-Top Frame Quilting Tips with Grace Company

How many unfinished quilt tops do you have tucked away, waiting to be completed? Three? Ten? More than that…? With the recent introduction of table-top frames to the market—particularly the Cutie frame from Grace Company and now their Cutie Breeze frame — finishing quilt tops feels more achievable. Table-top frames are easily set-up and easier to store, they’re affordable to the home sewer, and best of all, they work with most domestic sewing machines. So with that in mind, we’re sharing our top table-top frame quilting tips!

Now, no need to worry about that four-month backlog with your go-to the longarmer. To get that quilt finished, all you need is your table-top frame, your sewing machine, your basted quilt sandwich, and one free Saturday afternoon. There are a few tips to working on a table-top frame. Watch this video, and read the article!

Table runners are my favorite place to test new tools and skills. If you’re new to table-top frame quilting—say you just purchased a Cutie Breeze—whip up a quick table runner so you can fine-tune your set-up and start building your skills! For a limited time, we’ll even send you our Holiday Table Runners eBooklet for free!

Setting Up for Success

Whether sitting or standing, I recommend having the front rail more-or-less at belly button height. If the handle bars are beneath or above, your arms should be at 90-degrees for the most comfort. Ask yourself—is it comfortable to move the carriage? Can I see the needle and stitching? Is it easy for me to adjust the speed? Can switch the stitch regulation on as needed? Can I adjust the tension?

My home sewing machine’s foot pedal cord was too short, so I had to prop it up on a stack of books, and added some TrueGrip dots to keep it from slipping around (shelf liner can also work).

Not ideal—I’m looking for a foot cord extension—but it worked. When I put the Little Rebel from Grace Company on the frame, I didn’t have this problem. The foot pedal cord was long enough, and—after experimenting with it—I decided I really liked the hand control. If you have one available for your machine, I recommend giving it a shot!

Make sure everything is level. The machine shouldn’t roll to one side or the other. It should remain stationary. Wind a few extra bobbins. Keep in mind that unless your machine has a side-loading bobbin, you’ll need to unclamp your quilt and move it out of the way to change the bobbin.

Loading Your Quilt

As you would if you were taking your quilt to a longarmer, allow extra backing and batting around your quilt, about 4 to 5 extra inches. Personally, I prefer fusible batting these days, or a basting spray. On the frame, you have to remove pins to clamp—I did not and ended up with some mangled pins. But maybe you’re more patient than I am, so pins are fine.

Drape your quilt over the frame and ensure it’s straight. If your machine has stitch regulation and you plan to use it, make sure your stitch regulation sensor is able to read the fabric. Adjust the front rail or take-up rail as needed, getting the quilt as close to the bed of the machine as you can.

Clamp your quilt to the take-up rail first (clamps go straight up and down) and the front rail bar next (clamps come in from the side). Coil clamps should curl toward the machine. If you have elastic bands, I advise pinning the elastic so it’s not dangling. I DID manage to stitch some elastic to the back of one quilt.

At this stage, I’d do the bounce test for tautness. Some people use a penny, some use a quarter—whatever denomination, when dropped from about 6 inches, you should get a little bounce. It should NOT roll to a depression in the fabric.

Starting to Stitch

For this practice session, I’m using a gray top thread and a yellow bobbin thread. I want to be able to adjust my tension if I see eyelashes or train tracks. You might want to try something similar for your initial practice.

And I can adjust my top tension easily to re-set. Practice starting a stitch—needle down, needle up, grab your bobbin thread, and hold on to the two tails.

Make 3 securing stitches, and begin. Play with manual and regulated modes. I really liked the manual mode for pebbles and tacking stitches, but the stitch regulation on the Little Rebel was lovely for my block designs.

Get familiar with how you stitch at different speeds. Practice ending a line of stitches. Make 3 securing stitches. Needle down, needle up, pull machine away to pull up your bobbin thread, and clip.

Quilting Zone

Depending on your machine’s harp space or throat space, your quilting zone—or where your needle can actually stitch within the framed area—will change. I’ve used a home sewing machine with an 8-inch harp space. In this video, the machine I use—the Little Rebel from the Grace Company—has a 13-inch harp space, which is generous, and I’ve seen 16-inch midarm quilting machines mounted on table-top quilting frames.

Until you’ve quilted so much that it becomes instinctual, mark your quilting zone. This is the area in which you can quilt without the bed of the machine bumping up against the frame. I’ve pinned ribbons to mark my boundaries, but painter’s tape is fantastic, too. Mark the top, bottom and sides, testing first to see where your needle travels most comfortably—you don’t need a wonky leaf because you couldn’t complete a curve.

There are a few things to watch for with zoning. If you’re doing edge-to-edge, you can inadvertently create a “column effect.” That’s true, too, on longarm frames and on your home sewing machine, but here’s what I advise: To prevent that, leave some fist-sized gaps within your quilting zone. When you re-frame, make sure that this gap is in your new zone. This allows your design to dip into the other zone, and fill it organically.

Now, if you’re quilting a block design and it doesn’t quite fit within the space, consider how to break it up before you clamp your quilt. Below, I’m doing HALF the block, with a clear starting and stopping place. (I layered vellum over a print-out of the Dakota Snowflake motif, and then stitched through the layers with an unthreaded sewing machine. Rub a chalk pounce over it, and your design easy to follow.)

Get to the Finish

Table-top frames have a been a game changer for so many quilters over the past two years. You don’t need to dedicate your basement to a longarm machine, for one thing. All you need is a table or desk, and some space in the closet when the table-top frame is not in use. You don’t need to put a big dent into your savings, and you don’t need to take classes to get started. What you CAN do is quilt anything—from baby quilts to king-sized bed quilts—the minute you set up your frame. With a just a few tips and one free Saturday afternoon, you can get a table-top frame set-up and can free-motion to the finish!