Getting Ready for the Show in May

Two and a half weeks to the big show? It’s sneeking up on me quick. I have started gathering all my quilts in one place. I found these five that still need sleeves. Two need labels also. I will also need to decide which quilts I will hang in the space given to me, and which I will show during my short lecture. I will be talking about my first quilt, and my progression from traditional to art quilts. Detailed information about the show is on the Piecemakers website.

Sleeves are made for these quilts now, but not sewn on yet. I plan to take them to a Ladies Fellowship Craft Day at my church, and get all of my hand sewing done.

And so I though I would show you how I make sleeves and the easy way I have learned to put a bit of ease into them to leave room for the thickness of a hanging rod. I learned Robbi Joy Eklow’s technique for fully lined sleeves with ease for a hanging rod in a workshop a few years ago. Her technique is easy and the results are great, but I don’t like the extra layers of fabric behind a small quilt.

I started with a strip of fabric about the width of my quilt and six inches wide. Some shows require a wider sleeve, but a narrower one seems works just fine for me. And I prefer not to cover up a lot of the back of the quilt.

Hem the ends with a narrow hem. I like to stitch with a very narrow short zigzag which holds the edge of the hem down well so it doesn’t get caught on the hanging rod.

The trick that puts ease into the sleeve begins at the ironing board. Mark the center length of the sleeve by folding it in half lengthwise and pressing with a hot iron. Open back up, and fold the long edges of the sleeve to the center line, and press well.

Sew the long edges together (wrong sides together) with about a half inch seam (or 1cm, if you have a European machine marked in metric like I have). This will make the back of the sleeve narrower than the front.

Press the seam open. Make sure not to un-press the creases at the side of the quilt. You might repress the creases to make sure they are nice and crisp.

Center the sleeve on the back of the quilt about a half inch from the top and pin. Hand stitch the sleeve to the quilt using the creases as your stitching guide.