Minding Your Business

Re: My Quilt doesn't hang straight, HELP!!

Muppin — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:50:39 GMT

My quilts for show rarely exceed 48 inches, so I ship my quilts rolled in a tube, so they remain flat. Folding a quilt will produce creases depending on how you pack it. I have been to shows where bed sized quilts were hung without creasing, but I am sure they took extra steps (like stuffing it with paper in the folds) to prevent the creases.

Hope this helps!

Thanks,
Cheryl

Re: My Quilt doesn't hang straight, HELP!!

bregley — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:33:29 GMT

Cheryl,

Once you have blocked the quilt like you mentioned. Would it still lay flat once it has been folded for shipping? I am asking because I have some quilts that may need to be shipped to a show?

Thank You

Lonnie

Re: My Quilt doesn't hang straight, HELP!!

charsarg428 — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 16:00:20 GMT

Did you block your quilt? Art quilts need to be blocked before beading and applique work is done on quilts.

To block:

After piecing,quilting and triming your quilt place it on foam board.
Score the foam board with a sharp object about 1/4 to 1/2 inch off the streight edge, intersecting at the vertical and horizontal point.
Use short applique pins to secure to foam board.
Mist your quilt thouroughly with water
Gently begin to push unpinned side toward scored line
Continue spraying and pushing the unfinished quilt toward both lines. (all edges need to be streight.)
Pin as you stretch the fabric about 1 to 2 inches apart.
Allow the quilt to dry overnight
Remove pins and either bind or complete hand work.

Your quilt should hang perfectly streight! Good luck!

Re: My Quilt doesn't hang straight, HELP!!

eradock — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:00:40 GMT

@Nova4

Thanks for the advice. I think we might try a sewn tube of shot or sand that slides into the sleeve to try to keep a more "fabricy" feel of the piece. Elena wants some of hers to drape but not curl and a dowel is too straight for what she's looking to do. Even a length of chain in the sleeve could work for this.

@Muppin

What a great idea! We have hardwood floors so I may need to make Elena a HUGE blocking board like knitters use. If you cover a blocking board with Gingham you get a 1"x1" grid that helps with alignment to keep things square.

Happy Saturday!

Erik

Re: My Quilt doesn't hang straight, HELP!!

Nova4 — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:27:42 GMT

I don't sew the dowel into the bottom sleeve so I can take it out to roll it differently or fold it if need be. Don't really know about the competition's acceptance as I haven't had to send one this way, but I can't imagine it would be a problem.

Re: My Quilt doesn't hang straight, HELP!!

eradock — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:10:36 GMT

Sorry about the double post.

When you put a dowel with a sleeve at the bottom, do you close the ends or leave them open?

Do you know if this is OK in a competition even if the rules didn't say anything one way or another about it?

Thanks,

Erik (helping Elena with some of her quilts and fumbling with the internet)

Re: My Quilt doesn't hang straight, HELP!!

Muppin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 16:23:57 GMT

What you could do is "block" your quilt. I think there may be better instructions online elesewhere, but I have a 48 inch art quilt that I misted with some water. I cleared off some room on my carpeted floor and pinned the quilt into the carpet, making sure the quilt was flat and the corners were exactly square using a T ruler. I let it dry flat and then I rolled it to ship it to a show. ( A lint brush picked up carpet fuzz off the quilt) It laid flat along the wall and did not warp along the bottom while hanging in the show.

Cheryl / Muppin

Re: My Quilt doesn't hang straight, HELP!!

Nova4 — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:04:41 GMT

Try making a tunnel on the bottom of the back of the quilt and putting a dowel in it to weigh it down. Sometimes this works for me.

My Quilt doesn't hang straight, HELP!!

ilove2dye — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:40:01 GMT

I have entered my quilt in a show, but when it is hanging, it doesn't hand straight and smooth. It's crooked and lumpy looking, like it's got big puckers. Hard to describe. I just want it flat and smooth!!

How do I make it hang flat and smooth??? I have until July 20th. What should I do???