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Monday, August 01, 2011
Gracie Queen and Start Right Frame or Wooden and Metal Frames Compared
Currently the Grace Company has two Queen size machine quilting frames that should be considered when looking for a frame that will do Queen size or smaller quilts. Since both of these frames are currently priced about the same the question will be do I go with a steel or wooden frame? There are some Grace Dealers that will tell you that the wooden frames are not as good as the metal ones. You should ask them how many quilts they have finished on the wooden machine quilting frames? Ask them how they know that the metal frames are better. When you have someone bad mouth something they have never used then you need to realize that they are just pushing the frame they can make the most money on.
I have quilted on both the wooden and metal Grace Frames and can tell you that all the frames that Grace currently sells are all wonderful. That being said how do you determine which frame is right for you. The first question is how much room do you have to set up a frame? When Kathy first got her Gammill Classic machine quilting frame we didn't have a place to set it up. She has a 12 foot frame and we crammed it in a room that use to be a play room. The room wasn't wide enough but because there was a door way that we could center it in we had just enough room to get around the end of the frame. It was a tight squeeze but it worked for her.
Because she had a growing business and we needed more room anyway we added a two story addition on the East side of our house. It included a basement, 1st floor family room and bathroom, and a 2nd story quilting room with some closets. The addition is 28 by 30 which added a ton more room. Family parties are awesome and having a place for the kids friends to hang out is really nice.
Anyway, back to which frame to purchase. The Gracie Queen, which replaced the Little Gracie II is now a Queen version of the Gracie King which replaced the GMQ Pro. The new wooden version of the Grace Machine Quilter works so much better than previous models. You have the upgrade ability that you didn't have with the older versions. There are height adjustable legs included which you can't get with the some of the lower cost metal frames from Grace.
It is so important to set your frame up to the right height so you can see what you are quilting, so you don't have to bend over and kill your back. With these new height adjustable legs you can get your Grace King or Queen Frame to be the perfect height.
The flip up rail is also really nice to make sure you aren't getting any strange puckering. You roll your quilt, flip up the rail onto your quilt, and smooth out the batting if you need to. It is so simple.
Click here to find out more about the Gracie King and Queen.
I have quilted on both the wooden and metal Grace Frames and can tell you that all the frames that Grace currently sells are all wonderful. That being said how do you determine which frame is right for you. The first question is how much room do you have to set up a frame? When Kathy first got her Gammill Classic machine quilting frame we didn't have a place to set it up. She has a 12 foot frame and we crammed it in a room that use to be a play room. The room wasn't wide enough but because there was a door way that we could center it in we had just enough room to get around the end of the frame. It was a tight squeeze but it worked for her.
Because she had a growing business and we needed more room anyway we added a two story addition on the East side of our house. It included a basement, 1st floor family room and bathroom, and a 2nd story quilting room with some closets. The addition is 28 by 30 which added a ton more room. Family parties are awesome and having a place for the kids friends to hang out is really nice.
Anyway, back to which frame to purchase. The Gracie Queen, which replaced the Little Gracie II is now a Queen version of the Gracie King which replaced the GMQ Pro. The new wooden version of the Grace Machine Quilter works so much better than previous models. You have the upgrade ability that you didn't have with the older versions. There are height adjustable legs included which you can't get with the some of the lower cost metal frames from Grace.
It is so important to set your frame up to the right height so you can see what you are quilting, so you don't have to bend over and kill your back. With these new height adjustable legs you can get your Grace King or Queen Frame to be the perfect height.
The flip up rail is also really nice to make sure you aren't getting any strange puckering. You roll your quilt, flip up the rail onto your quilt, and smooth out the batting if you need to. It is so simple.
Click here to find out more about the Gracie King and Queen.
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