Hinterberg's Machine Quilting Frame Is Well Built, Full Of Features

A review of Easy Build Machine Quilt Frame from Hinterberg Design

Click the picture to visit the Easy Build Web page

I've been reviewing home machine quilting frames since they first appeared on the market. Let me tell you - we've come a long way, baby!

Read my reviews of home machine quilting systems

The early home machine quilting frames were relatively light-weight. You supplied your own table, taping and clamping parts to it.

The new Easy Build Machine Quilt Frame from Hinterberg is in an entirely different class. Like the Grace Machine Quilter, the Easy Build is a complete system, requiring no table. All you have to supply is five pieces of electrical conduit from Home Depot for the rods and rails. (More on that later...)

And like the Grace, the Easy Build is made from very high quality plywood. This is not the stuff you build a house with! It's cabinet-grade material, with a beautiful, perfect veneer on each side.

Hinterberg built lots of nice features into the Easy Build, including handles that can be used from either end of the sewing machine; a good stylus design; and a hand speed control.

Building The Easy Build

The Easy Build arrived in a very heavy box. Charlie had to carry it into my studio for me. I decided to build it myself to see if it really is easy to build.

I opened the box, checked to see if all the parts were there, and started building. Poor Charlie. I could tell he wanted to build it because he kept coming in and picking up parts. Every part he handled he pronounced as "very well made."

I laid out all the pieces and matched them up with pictures in the manual. Everything went together just as the manual said it should. It was easy, but it took a long time.

The only place I got a little confused was with the hand speed control. Charlie came to my rescue. As it turned out, I had it right but didn't know it.

Buying Rails And Rollers

The one thing I had to supply was five sturdy rails and rollers. Hinterberg tells you to buy 1-1/4" metal electrical conduit. Buying your own rails and rollers is a pain, of course, but it has a huge advantage - you can buy sturdy, one-piece rails and rollers that would be totally impractical to have shipped to you.

Charlie and I bought five pieces of electrical conduit at Home Depot for $4.97 each. It was a good thing Charlie was with me, as five lengths of 10' conduit are extremely heavy!

We took our five pieces of conduit over to the plumbing department and had them cut to length, as I don't have room for a 10' quilting frame in my studio. We also had them ream out the cut end so it was nice and smooth.

Home again, home again, jiggity-jog! After hours of assembling the Easy Build, I was finally ready to load backing, batting, and a whole-cloth top to practice on.

With everything loaded, the front rail of the Easy Build drops down so you can get close enough to the frame to quilt from a seated position. That's so much better on your back and your eyes!

I found that the optional hand speed control works very well. I could run the machine precisely as fast or as slow as I wanted.

If you don't opt for the hand speed control, the foot pedal on the floor works well, too. Using a foot pedal on the floor is a lot easier when you're seated than when you're working standing up.

Practice For Consistency

I found that, as with most machine quilting frames I've tested, the sewing machine moves on the Easy Build ever so slightly more easily front to back than side to side. I spent a few minutes getting the feel of it. After a couple of rolls of the rear rail, my stitches were consistent in size, no matter in which direction I sewed.

I thought I would have to adjust the tension on my sewing machine, but it was perfect without any adjustment. I started with cotton thread, moved to poly, and finished with rayon. All looked good.

After I'd mastered quilting from the front of the frame, I ran down the hill to the lumber yard for a piece of 1" x 8" pine to use as a template table. This optional piece installs at the back of the machine, just in front of the rear carriage rail.

I loosened two knobs and switched the handles to the rear. From the rear you can use either of two pointers to follow templates for all-over quilting patterns.

Needle Pointer Or Laser Pointer

The pointer package includes both a needle pointer and a laser pointer. The needle pointer can follow pre-cut template boards you can order, or you can use a router to create your own. The laser pointer can follow paper or plastic quilting patterns you've affixed to the template table.

To test the pointers, I used a plastic stencil made for marking hand quilting designs. I stuck it to the template table with masking tape.

For my first test I used the needle pointer, pretending I was guiding it along a template board. It was easy to stay on track, even though the needle pointer rode about 1/4" above the pattern.

Next I used the laser pointer, and that was even easier. I have a feeling I'd go through lots of batteries in that little gadget.

A Lot To Like

Compared to other home quilting systems I've tried, I prefer the Hinterberg rail system and the tension at which it holds the quilt. I like the responsiveness of the hand speed control. I like the laser pointer for tracing designs. I like the large sewing machine carriage, which could easily hold one of the new large-harp sewing machines made especially for home machine quilting systems.

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I especially like the quality of the parts and how easily they fit together. I like the design and the engineering. And I like the size and sturdiness of the unit, which is strong enough for me to lean against while reaching to change thread. There is no vibration, even when sewing at top speed.

The Easy Build takes up as much room as a large couch when it is set up with 90" rails and rollers (long enough for a queen-size quilt). But it shouldn't take too long to break it down and store it away. Everything could be stored away under a bed, in a small closet, or behind a couch in 15 minutes or less.

A Good System At A Good Price

Hinterberg has thought of everything. You can get started with their basic frame at $549 plus shipping, a price considerably lower than most others. The optional hand speed control sells for $49. The pointer package with both the needle and the laser pointer has been included as part of the system since November 2003. (If you have an earlier model, you can add the pointer option for $35.)

Building this big quilting frame is as much fun as playing with giant Tinker Toys. But you need to have some upper body strength to handle some of the sub-assemblies. I strongly recommend you get a friend to help.

And even though the assembly process wasn't terribly complicated, it was very time-consuming. (Of course Zoe, my kitten, was helping, and you know how much help kittens can be.) So plan ahead!

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