Quilters and collectors across the globe often scour antique shops, flea markets, and even garage sales for quilt tops to add to their collections. Unfortunately, not every quilt top that survived the early half of the century is valuable. Some are in such poor condition that they are better off quilted and used, while others may be better and more valuable preserved as tops only.
If you aren't sure whether to quilt those tops or leave them "as is", quilt historian Barbara Brackman shares these ideas for protecting quilt tops while still enjoying their beauty and grace:
Sew a sleeve to the back of the quilt top just as you would a completed quilt. Use a double-folded sleeve so that the top is protected from the hanging mechanism. Use cotton fabric and thread along with single or double-fold binding and bind the raw edges by hand to prevent them from pulling and fraying. Hang the top for all to enjoy.
To give a fragile quilt top added strength, mount a piece of backing fabric to the top. Base the edges of the quilt top to the backing fabric with stitches that are about 1/4-inch long on the front of the quilt, but are about 1 inch long on the backing side. Then bring the backing fabric around to the front edge of the quilt top to cover the quilt's raw edges. Tack in place using as few stitches as possible.
Donate an antique quilt top in good condition to a museum that has a good textile collection. Curators are often interested in older quilt tops as historical records of past techniques, fabrics, and patterns.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Design Inspiration Is All Around You
From your newly planted garden to the imprint on your new "green" grocery bag, design inspiration is everywhere if you take the time to open your eyes to the possibilities.
Magazines and catalogs are one obvious source of inspiration. But if you're on a shopping spree, check out the illustrations on greeting cards. Don't miss the store window display, or even the greenery in the aisles. The colors a store uses in its logo can give you a new perspective on color value and hue (they probably paid a design professional lots of money to arrive at those colors--use them to inspire your next quilt!)
And as Fathers Day approaches, if you plan to visit a Museum, take along a camera or sketchpad. Many old items have wonderful designs etched into them. Create a sketch or do a "rubbing". To do a rubbing, place a blank piece of paper over the design, then lightly rub over the design with a pencil or even with a crayon with the paper sleeve removed.
Keep a small notebook in your bag and make a note, or snap a photo any time you are inspired!
Keep your eyes open and get inspiration from everywhere, you never know what will inspire you.
Magazines and catalogs are one obvious source of inspiration. But if you're on a shopping spree, check out the illustrations on greeting cards. Don't miss the store window display, or even the greenery in the aisles. The colors a store uses in its logo can give you a new perspective on color value and hue (they probably paid a design professional lots of money to arrive at those colors--use them to inspire your next quilt!)
And as Fathers Day approaches, if you plan to visit a Museum, take along a camera or sketchpad. Many old items have wonderful designs etched into them. Create a sketch or do a "rubbing". To do a rubbing, place a blank piece of paper over the design, then lightly rub over the design with a pencil or even with a crayon with the paper sleeve removed.
Keep a small notebook in your bag and make a note, or snap a photo any time you are inspired!
Keep your eyes open and get inspiration from everywhere, you never know what will inspire you.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Rounding Corners on Square Quilts is Easy
While many of us have taken to producing quilts that will serve as wall art instead of "bed art", it's still helpful to know how to round off the edges of your quilt. This can be especially helpful if your quilt will fall to the floor on your bed, where you can accidentally trip on the excess fabric at the corners of the mattress.
To round off the corners of your bed quilt, first measure the length of the drop from the top edge of the bed to the floor. Next, draw a square on a piece of paper that's large enough so that the square's sides are the same length as the drop to the floor. You can then create a hand-made compass to draw the curve or rounded corner for your bed quilt. Wrap some yarn or string around a pencil, and align the pencil tip so that it is positioned at one corner of the square on your paper. Wrap the remaining string end around a straight pin, and insert the pin into one of the corners closest to the pencil tip (not the opposite corner).
Be sure the string is taut between the pencil tip and pin tip. Draw an arc from one corner of the square, around to the opposite corner. Use this pattern to "round off" your quilt across the border corners. This technique works well for single fabric borders as well as appliqué borders where a twining vine can wander around the corner.
To round off the corners of your bed quilt, first measure the length of the drop from the top edge of the bed to the floor. Next, draw a square on a piece of paper that's large enough so that the square's sides are the same length as the drop to the floor. You can then create a hand-made compass to draw the curve or rounded corner for your bed quilt. Wrap some yarn or string around a pencil, and align the pencil tip so that it is positioned at one corner of the square on your paper. Wrap the remaining string end around a straight pin, and insert the pin into one of the corners closest to the pencil tip (not the opposite corner).
Be sure the string is taut between the pencil tip and pin tip. Draw an arc from one corner of the square, around to the opposite corner. Use this pattern to "round off" your quilt across the border corners. This technique works well for single fabric borders as well as appliqué borders where a twining vine can wander around the corner.
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