Tuesday, February 28, 2017

How I Hang My Quilts – Part Two

After my previous blog post I have had several questions on preparing my quilts for hanging.  So, I decided to post a follow up to answer and elaborate on the process.

First: The sleeve – depending on size of your quilt and if you are going to show it in a quilt show or just hang it at home, the sleeve size can vary. If you are going to show your quilt in a quilt and/or art show, you need to follow the guidelines of the show. Normally for a large quilt (over 24” wide), your sleeve needs to be 4” deep. If it is a smaller quilt, you will want a 2” deep sleeve.  When preparing your sleeve, remember to allow for your seam allowance when cutting (yes, I have made this mistake).

Second: Attaching the sleeve to your quilt – I hand stitch my sleeve to the back of my quilt coming down about an inch from the top of the quilt. You don’t want it too far down or your quilt will not hang flat and you don’t want it right at the top, because you need to allow a little it of slack in the sleeve to allow for the board or quilt rod when hanging.

Now the fun stuff.

If you are going to show your quilt in an art show and you need to wire your quilt for museum hanging, here are your instructions.

Purchase hanging wire from the hardware store (not monofilament line! Monofilament line will stretch). I was lucky and found covered mirror wire at Home Depot a few weeks ago. This is great, because then you don’t have to cover the cut end of the wire with tape.






Wrap the wire around one of the “D” rings on the board, after you have inserted it into your quilt-hanging sleeve.

Measure out enough wire to go to the other “D” ring, leaving enough room for wrapping and a little bit of slack.

Wrap the wire around the second “D” ring. If you do not have covered mirror wire, tape the ends of your wire so they do not fray and hurt the back of your quilt.







Now, make sure you don’t have too much slack in the wire. I don’t like it to come above the top of the board.










Using your handy dandy staple gun and 1/4” staples, staple two staples on each side of the middle to stabilize the wire. You don’t want your quilt going wonky during the art show or on the wall at home.

Ta Da! You are done!


Happy Creating, Jules

Saturday, February 4, 2017

The To-Do List and How I Hang My Quilts

Do you make To-Do Lists? Do they help you keep organized and on track? Me? I’m a list maker. Now and when I worked in the business/banking/finance world. So many things get thrown at me during the day, it is how I manage to stay on track and prioritize.

When I worked in the business world, I used the “Task” function on my calendar to help me keep track of when reports were due and other tasks.  Today I keep track of things that need to be done around the house and in the Studio on paper and with the “Reminders” and “Notes” apps on my iPhone. I especially like the “Reminders” app for when I have things to do outside the house.

This past week and I had several things to get done and decided to write them down. I like seeing the piece of paper and where I am on my tasks and the accomplishment of getting things done. And I got so much done that day! I felt great and was ready for the next day. Then I awoke with a migraine that had me in bed all day long. L

One of the things on my list this weekend has been to hang make the boards I use for my quilts and get Reflections in the Sea hung in the hallway. While I was doing this I thought I would do a tutorial so you can see how I do this. It is a great way to hang quilts at home and at certain gallery showings. I am a member of the Dallas Area FiberArtists and we have our annual show at ThePoint, at C. C. Young in Dallas. This hanging method works great with their system.








First I go to the local hardware store and purchase a piece of word ¼” thick and 4” wide. The length varies depending on the width of my quilt. At Home Depot and Lowes have pre-cuts and they will make a few cuts for free, so I had measured what I needed before I went and had them cut the wood for me.


When I got home I got out the hangers I had purchased at Hobby Lobby and measured where I needed to screw them in. I place them towards the top of the board so the quilt will hang as close to the wall as possible.  














Now you will notice in the pictures I used one of the gripper pads under the board so the board doesn’t slip while screwing the board in. Very helpful, you don’t want to be fighting the board while you are trying to get the screw and screwdriver to cooperate.








After I screw the hangers in, my husband use to snip off the sharp end and grind it down on the grinder, so it wouldn’t mare the quilt. Well, my sweet friend, Lu Peters, came up with an easier idea of using the felt feet we buy for the bottom of chairs and placing them on the back of the screw. How easy is that!






















Now, you will notice on my boards, I have written the name of the quilt. I make sure to write this with a Sharpie on the back of the board. You won’t want it showing through the front or heaven forbid, bleeding into the quilt if water hits it. I have so many quilts, writing the name on the board helps when they are at a show or when you are moving. This made it so much easier when we moved last year and I was hanging the quilts in the house.







Here is Reflections in the Sea hung in my hallway.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial. Bookmark it so you can come back to it any time and pass it on to your friends!

Creatively,


Jules

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter!