- 1). Cover one of the two longer boards loosely with the strong fabric (such as the pant leg from a pair of old blue jeans) and staple in place. Keep 2 to 4 inches at the ends of the board uncovered so that you can get a firm grip with the C-clamps later. The idea here is to make sure the fabric stays firmly attached to the board while still making it possible for you to pin the ends of your quilt to the fabric or blue jean material. In other words, part of the pant leg will be firmly attached to the board with staples running down the length of the leg, and the rest of the pant leg will be loose, like a flap. Do the same thing with the other board. With these two boards covered, you have everything you need to begin hand-quilting your quilt. The frame itself will not be complete, though, until you have placed the quilt on it.
- 2). Prepare the quilt for the frame by assembling your quilt sandwich and basting the layers together. As is explained on Quilting 101, the quilt is generally made up of a backing fabric, a layer of batting and the quilt top. Arrange all of this on a large surface, such as your cleaned floor. Starting from the center of the quilt, use safety pins every 6 inches to hold all the layers together perfectly. You can stop here or you can use needle and thread to baste everything together before putting it on the frame. Use a contrasting color of thread so that you can easily remove these stitches later.
- 3). Use more safety pins to attach one end of your quilt sandwich to one of the fabric-covered boards. Don't be stingy with the pins; use one every few inches to keep the tension even across the width. Make sure to leave the board ends free of your quilt so that you can attach your shorter boards using the C-clamps without catching your work in the middle. Repeat this process with the other end and the other board.
- 4). Roll the fabric-covered boards with the quilt attached to them so that the quilt rolls onto the board like a scroll. Keep rolling the quilt fabric onto the board until you're about 2 feet from the center of your quilt. Do the same on the other side. Your object is to make the exposed work surface the same length as your shorter, uncovered boards.
- 5). Attach the two shorter boards to the ends of the fabric-covered boards with the C-clamps, creating a large rectangle that holds your quilt fabric taut in the center. Prop this large frame on your four dining room chairs and you are ready to start hand-quilting.
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