Round quilt hanging sleeve

(Submitted by Gail Garber, www.GailGarberDesigns.com)

Here are instructions for making a sleeve to hang Cartwheel Constellation (the cover quilt pattern from the January 2010 issue of American Quilter magazine) or any other round quilt. This method will work with even small round quilts.

Calculate 1/8 of the diameter of the finished quilt. Then determine the width of the quilt this measurement (1/8 of diameter) below the top. Cut a strip 8-1/2" wide and 2" longer than this width measurement. Hem each end and then stitch into a long tube, wrong sides together. Press seam toward one side, centered along the back of the tube. Position the tube a distance of 1/8 of the finished quilt diameter down from the top of the quilt, at the center. Slip stitch in place.
I use this method when hanging all circular quilts, positioning a sleeve close enough to the top to evenly bear the weight of the quilt, but not far enough below the upper edge to allow the top to flop over. I then insert a very thin piece of molding, about 1" longer than the sleeve. This is placed on two small nails that extend out of the wall just far enough to hang the molding. Generally, the quilt top will stand up nicely against the wall. In those rare instances where it still wants to flop over, I insert one tiny straight pin through the quilt and into the wall. Another option is to sew a small tab near the top of the quilt on the back side and pin that to the wall.

UFOs? Get your guild in gear!

Seems like my editorial in the January 2010 issue is a subject very close to home for many readers. Lil Koster of Wilmington, Delaware wrote this note, which she gave me permission to share:
"I just read your editorial in the January 2010 issue of American Quilter and it brought a smile to my face. I thought I was the queen of UFOs - my 20th wedding anniversary is next May and I still haven't finished my wedding quilt. The blocks have languished in a plastic box for many years...maybe I'll finally get it assembled and finished for my 25th! And I have so many 'UFOs yet to be started' that I came up with a name for them: USOs (UnStarted Objects)!
My quilt guild, Brandywine Valley Quilters, has a biannual show, and we started a UFO challenge to inspire members to finish theirs. We give award ribbons to the oldest UFO by a single maker, oldest UFO completed by someone other than the original maker, most UFOs completed, most unique reason for the delay in completion, and most deviation from the original plan. If this helps even one quilter finish a UFO, it's a worthwhile idea! We're hoping to encourage more completed UFOs for our 2010 show, the theme of which is 'Something New from Something Old: Decades of Thread Stories.'
I thoroughly enjoy each issue of American Quilter. The magazine gets better with each passing year! I appreciate the mix of articles and projects, which appeal to a wide range of interests. They have helped me expand my quilting horizon - I have evolved from piecing and hand quilting traditional quilts to landscape collages, embellishments, and machine quilting. Who knows what my future will bring -probably even more UFOs!"

Look what's in the January 2010 issue!

The January 2010 issue of American Quilter (on newsstand December 8th) is chocked full of wonderful articles and patterns…and some surprises! Joanne Winn teaches you how to use your machine’s embroidery module to quilt fancy feathers, while Gail Valentine reviews six efficient methods for making half-square triangles. You’ll be amazed at the first installment in a new series of articles by Iris Frank about remarkable larger-than-life quilting projects. And did you know that you can dye fabric with steel wool? Beth Wheeler shows you how in her article on rust dyeing. Tattooed quilters? You might be surprised at who is sporting quilter “ink” nowadays. There are colorful patterns ranging from easy to challenging, including the spectacular cover quilt by Gail Garber. All this and more await you in the January issue! Not an AQS member? Join now so you don’t miss a thing.

Pieced Batting - Part 2 of 2

(Submitted by Marje Rhine, technical pattern editor for American Quilter magazine)

Want to use up small leftover pieces of batting? I like to join them for use in doll quilts and wallhangings, but needed a quick method for joining the pieces so they would lie flat without a bump, instantly giving away the secret that they had been pieced. I tried butting straight edges of the pieces together then stitching together with a zigzag that catches both pieces. This worked OK but the batting tended to stretch as I sewed (photo left).

I've come up with what I think is a better method. Layer the batting, right-sides together (or same-sides together) along the straight edge (photo right). Using a short and narrow blind hemstitch, sew the pieces together. The straight lines of the blind hemstitch should run just along the raw edges of the batting with the occasionally right-left stitches catching both pieces. Open up the batting and pull slightly. The stitching should hold the length of the seam and almost disappear both visually and to the touch (photo below).

Cottage Bliss

"Cottage Bliss" is a good description of my three-day mountain cabin retreat with quilting buddies at a YMCA camp in Estes Park, Colorado, last weekend. Music, friends, sewing, scenic hikes, great food, and spectacular weather made for a memorable event. Other than missing our group members who couldn't attend, it was pretty much perfect.

But Cottage Bliss is also the name of a darling quilt shop in Estes Park that sells gifts, music CDs, books, and other trinkets in addition to fabric and notions. As you enter the shop, the sales clerks (gracious hostesses!) offer up herbal tea served in china cups while you shop - blueberry was the flavor on the day my group visited. The tea was followed by chocolate and snacks - what a welcome! Soft but interesting music plays throughout the building and in addition to fabric and thread, I bought a wonderful CD by Anne Murray that I hadn't heard before. Because the shop is relatively small, fabric selection isn't expansive, but what's there is quite nice. On the lower level is another small room jammed to the ceiling with fabric and notion bargains. All in all, this is a must-visit shop if your travels take you to Estes, and all shop profits go to charity. For more information, visit www.CottageBlissEstes.com.

Pieced Batting - Part 1 of 2

(Submitted by Marje Rhine, technical pattern editor for American Quilter magazine)
Because I make a lot of quilts, I have a lot of leftover batting that I hate to throw out. The small pieces are great for hot pads and placemats. I also use them for padding in packages to be shipped – much better for the environment than styrofoam peanuts. The large pieces of batting can be pieced together by hand to use in bed-size quilts. A little preparation ensures that the pieced batting will stand up to normal wear and tear on a quilt. First lay the batting pieces on a rotary cutting mat, overlapping by about 4”, and rotary cut a gentle wavy line through both pieces.

(That way, the quilting will not match the batting cut line and and quilting stitches are more likely to catch both sides of the cut in many places.)

Remove the small excess pieces, line up the pieces along the curve, and hand stitch cut edges together with large stitches. To make sure the stitching will hold, run a thread in each direction.

In the next post, I'll show you a great way to join smaller pieces of batting for doll quilts and wallhangings.

Des Moines Best of Show

What a thrill it was to chat with Karen Kay Buckley (on left in the photo) in front of her magnificent quilt, Arabesque, at the AQS show here in Des Moines. The quilt, which is hand appliqued and machine quilted, was three years in the making. The detail in this quilt is breathtaking...photos just don't do it justice. For anyone living in or traveling through Des Moines in the next couple days, this quilt is reason enough to stop by the AQS show in downtown. There will be more photos and lots of information about all the winning quilts in the March 2010 issue of American Quilter magazine.