In case you missed it in the past, this is the DIY clamping system I use to support the weight of a quilt as I machine quilt.

I first got the idea from Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry. The idea is to use two quick-release clamps suspended from the ceiling to hold the weight of the quilt off of the table while you work. Here are the supplies you need:

• 2 quick-release ratcheting clamps. Don’t get regular clamps with springs—they are hard on your hands.
• 2 plastic spring toggle for coats—that’s what those yellow things are
• Several yards of nylon cord—the kind you would use in a Roman shade (not shown) 
• 2 big, eye-bolts or hooks for the ceiling. If you can’t screw them into wood, use ones with a toggle.

This is an eyebolt in my ceiling. There is wood above the sheetrock in my studio. If there wasn’t, I’d use eyebolts and butterfly toggles.

Cut a length of nylon cord twice the length from your tabletop to the ceiling. That will be too long, but you can cut off the excess later. Squeeze a jacket toggle open and run one end of the nylon cord through it and then up through the eye-bolt in the ceiling. Run it back through the squeezed-open toggle.

Squeeze a jacket toggle open and run one end of the nylon cord through it and then up through the eye-bolt in the ceiling. Run it back through the squeezed-open toggle.

Tie one end of the nylon cord to one handle of a quick-release clamp. My clamps came with holes that were perfect for this. You might have to drill a hole.

To raise or lower the clamp, squeeze the toggle and pull the other end of the cord. As you use the clamps, you will figure out how much of the excess nylon cord you want to cut off. I like to be able to reach it from a sitting position.

My BERNINA Q20 sits in a table, front to back, not side-to-side like a home machine. My eye-bolts are positioned in the ceiling about 30″ apart, centered over the machine—one on one side, one on the other. They sit back from the front of the table about 12″.

If you machine quilt on a home machine, position one bolt in the ceiling, about 12″ behind the needle. Position the other eyebolt 14″-16″ to the left of the needle (in the ceiling). 

It is fast and easy to change the position of the clamps as you move and turn the quilt. The more you work with the clamps, the easier it is to know where best to clamp the quilt.

When I’m not using the clamps, I pull them up to the ceiling, coiled excess cord, and clamp it in place.

So there you have it! This is an inexpensive and simple way to support and control your quilt as you machine quilt. I hope you have as much success with this as I have!