The heart of our work in heritage preservation & historical research is the quilt frame.

There are currently no active frame builders working and selling quilt frames in the UK. Within the Frame is changing this.

Working with a furniture maker and designer experienced in heritage techniques and sourcing locally grown hardwoods, quilt frames are being built again in the British Isles. James Torble is taking Within the Frame’s historical research into frame building traditions and bringing it to life again in his workshop. Connecting history, contemporary practice, and heritage craft preservation for both quilters and woodworkers, James will make the next generation of quilters the frames they are missing.

“The quilting frame is simply two lengths of wood, generally black with age, connected by two wooden cross bars [or ‘swords’] and raised on supports about four feet from the ground.”

Source: Hake, English Quilts Old and New, 1937.

The Hake Quilting Frame

Drawing on the knowledge and designs preserved by Elizabeth Hake in her influential 1937 book English Quilting Old and New, this style of frame is comfortable and flexible, offering infinitely adjustable tension on a stable surface to allow both hands free to execute fluid running stitches.

Paying homage to the traditional local materials of the original frames, we sourced linen webbing, fastened to the English sycamore rails with tacks and a leather strip for extra durability, while the swords are made from strong English ash with adjustment provided by a double row of peg holes for detailed tension control. To protect the wood, the frame is finished with natural beeswax.

From the Past to the Present

  • Historical Frames

    Frames appear widely across a range of sources in the archive. They appear is almost all areas of the British Isles in inventories and farm sale listings.

    Frames were commissioned locally from village carpenters, wheelwrights and in one account, the local butcher who had a sideline in quilt frame carpentry.

    By the early decades of the twentieth century this technical knowledge, enmeshed in cultural practice was fading, but could be accessed through newspaper advice columns.

    Our research informs a new modern technical specification for Loose Fit, rooted in these historical sources.

  • Contemporary Revival

    In the last 30 years the supply of locally made quilt frames has dwindled to non existence. Importing expensive frames from Europe and America has contributed to the inaccessibility for many makers of this traditional tool in the British Isles.

    A crucial part of unlocking the heritage practice of working the frame is making the tool available to a wide and diverse audience again.

    Drawing on our historical research from old published technical specifications, given in social history testimony, and gleaned from invoices and order books, Within the Frame have developed a partnership with Loose Fit to make British made frames available to makers, teachers, museums, and quilting and community groups again.

James Torble is a furniture designer and carpenter working with locally grown wood and heritage techniques in East Sussex. James has a background in fine art, having studied at Central Saint Martins College, London, before building himself a houseboat and developing a passion for furniture and design in the process.

In his workshop, Loose Fit, all furniture is joined by hand using traditional techniques with thoughtful details which accentuate the natural robust beauty of solid timber. James uses locally sourced British hardwoods, such as unwanted trees that councils have cut down. The skills of traditional joinery are kept alive with playful designs, well considered details, and a love of crafting wood.

James joins Within The Frame to revive the practice of building traditional quilt frames in the British Isles. Working from historical plans from the early and mid 20th century, James is developing an affordable quilt frame that reflects the historical knowledge of quilters. We estimate that frames will be for sale directly from James in mid to later 2025.