Success.

Three weeks ago I bought a handiquilter machine quilt frame on bay. I have not bought a lot from eBay, but this deal was too good to be true.

I won the bid, and it arrived the following Monday, and in opening the box, I found 2 pieces that were severely damaged. I contacted the seller, knowing that the damage wasn't completely her fault....but decided to let her off the hook because I got such a great deal.

So I started brainstorming and figured out a couple of solutions. $40 later and a couple of hours investment and we are ready to roll.

Last night, I created a small sandwich of fabric, batting, and fabric and gave it a whirl. Although the machine had a few tension issues, the Thing works. I, of course need lots of practice to get even stitches, but I am excited, I have 4 complete quilt tops to quilt along with half a dozen in the works.

I just placed my grand-niece's quilt onto the frame and thought what if I remove the upper bed and just use the rollers of the lower bed and my walking foot....OMG...it basically moves the machine along on it's own!!!! SURE, I am only getting straight parallel lines, but I can turn the thing 90-degrees for a grid. And once off the frame I can go back and work within the squares...until I can stitch evenly on the frame.

The frame didn't arrive with instructions but a kind soul, Applecrisp on Flickr, sent me pictures and offered a video...the pics did it....thanks Applecrisp!