First time using this plastic frame thingy...

[CrazyCucco11]

I have been using hoops for my cross stitching, but i saw a pvc pipe-ish 11" frame that i decided to try. Does anyone else use this? Are there any notable negative side effects to using it? I feel like the white holders grip my work VERY tight and i am worried about clamping it over other stitches HELP!

[funkymonkey]

There's some discussion of Q-Snap frames here: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2593&st=0&sk=t&sd=a ... p&start=10

Eliste suggested for hoops (or probably Q-snaps) to put a clean linen band between hoops to keep the stitching safe. Haven't tried it yet myself, but sounds like it would work!

[CrazyCucco11]

Thanks for the info!

[Eliste]

One of the things that frames are designed to do, is actually to make it so that you don't really have to take off and on whatever is holding the fabric in place.

I've never really liked the snaps things, but depending on how large your frame/project is, one of the traditional ways of using them is to attach the very end of the fabric to opposing sides of the frame and literally rolling the project up. You end up with a bit of extra fabric on either side, but when you set it up like that, you can literally never have to replace the clamps on your fabric, just reroll to expose a different part of the fabric.

I'm not sure if the qsnaps will work like that, but its how frames are traditionally used and would mean that you never have to put the clamps over your stitches. It might be worth trying.

Failing that, like funkymonkey said, try putting linen between the snaps and the stitches.

Also- if the stitches shift, don't worry too much cause when you wash it the thread will almost certainly go back to normal or at least be malleable enough to move back to where it should be.