A little bit about the Cutie Quilt Frame

 Hello friends, 

As promised, I am back with a closer look at a new little toy that I  treated myself to before Thanksgiving! I was seeing all these ads for the Cutie quilting frame by the Grace Company, and when I clicked on one of their videos they hooked  me! This is what it looks like:

( image from Grace Company)

This quilt frame system allows you to place your own home sewing machine on a carriage, while you "hoop" your quilt on the frame,  and then you free-motion quilt! So your quilt is stationary and you move your machine with those handles you see at the front. 

You all know that I am constantly promoting quilt as you go in smaller sections because with that method you don't have to wrestle a large, heavy quilt through your machine. But....sometimes a pattern does not easily allow for that method,  and sometimes certain people already have a pile of finished quilt tops lying around ( ahem),  and for those occasions this set-up is great!

Another detail that attracted me to this frame is that it is small, you can take it down and store it, and you do not need to have a lot of room in order to use it ( it fits on a 2 by 4 foot table!). 

Like I mentioned, I got this frame before Thanksgiving and had a little bit of play time with it, and then put it away again until just recently. So today I want to share my experience with it ( which still is not a whole lot, but I do have a few words of wisdom to share!)

One of the top  reasons I bought the frame was that is is stowable. I do not have a lot of empty space in my quilt room and I thought it would be fine to put it away when not in use and then to pull it out when needed. So it's true that you can easily store the components under a bed or in a closet, without having to take it all apart. However, you do adjust the rails according to your sewing machine specs, and to store it I wanted to make it as compact as possible, so reset everything. This meant having to re-do all that when I put my machine back on it. I suppose if you pull it out pretty frequently you might remember and be a whiz at setting it all up again, but I had to go through my manual and make sure everything was right. 

Which brings me to my next point: If you can leave it set-up, I highly recommend that! I ended up finding the perfect table on Marketplace and was able to move some other furniture around so I could leave my Cutie set up permanently. 

I have a wonderful sewing machine that I LOVE! It has a stitch regulator and  a START/STOP function, meaning that I do NOT have to use my foot pedal if I don't want to while free-motion quilting. Using my machine on the frame worked really well. My only complaint is that my machine has a FAT head and I had to sit down in order to be able to see where and what I was quilting ( you can choose to stand or sit with this frame, especially if you have an adjustable table). Using the machine you already own is of course great! ( There are a few specifications for your machine, which I will mention a bit later on). HOWEVER, if my machine is set up on the frame, I can't piece if I feel like it. On top of that, my machine is a HEAVY beast and moving it around from table to table is not easy. So I decided to use my back-up machine on my Cutie frame. It does not have a STOP/START button, or a stitch regulator, but other than that it is a great machine. I had actually become quite proficient at free-motion quilting on it before my new machine with all its bells and whistles took center stage.

Which brings me to my next point. I have read quite a few complaints from new Cutie owners who are disappointed with the results when using the Cutie. Unfortunately you still need to become proficient at free-motion quilting, and if you are not, this frame is not going to magically make it so! Practice makes perfect :). 

Another detail you have to be aware of is that you will be re-positioning your quilt ( a lot if it is a big quilt!). I didn't find this difficult to do, but it is a bit time-consuming. However, quilting by machine is till way faster than by hand, so there is that. And you do get more proficient at it the more you do it. Again, practice makes perfect :).

Alright, now for some specs! The Cutie Frame can accommodate machines up to 11.5" wide, 22" long, and the throat space should be no smaller than 7", but it can handle up to 19"! The larger the throat space, the better, because you will have a larger area to quilt in ( from top to bottom), and you will have to reposition your quilt less often. The throat space on my machine is about 10" and that allowed me to do some nice feathers,  loop-de-loops, and small daisies. ( The piece you see in all of the above photos is my practice piece~ ignore the randomness of the designs!).  If you are worried about weight, my first machine weighs A LOT and it was just fine, but if you have any concerns you can always contact the Grace Company. They are really wonderful with customer service and I had the opportunity to talk to two very helpful and informative agents.   

So, the bottom line: Do I think this frame was a good purchase? Yes, and as I quilt more quilts with it I'm sure I'll love and appreciate it more and more. There is also a very informative Cutie group on FB where I glean all kinds of helpful info.

If you are trying to find the best deal on the frame, I have to tell you that the prices are the same everywhere, from Amazon, to the Grace Company, to independent sewing centers, but the price does seem to fluctuate from  month to month and you might be able to score a few bonus accessories if you wait. In the meanwhile, if you would like to check it out in more detail, here are some useful links: 

  https://graceframe.com/en/machine-frames/cutie-tabletop-fabric-frame and https://amzn.to/3WmPTWA .

I am not affiliated with the Grace Co in any way, but if you buy through the Amazon link I will receive a small stipend.

There are of course many more details that you might be wondering about and if you want to ask more questions in the comments or send me an email, I will try my very best to answer them for you!

Until next time~happy creating!

Monique