A Tip for Tuesday

Allow space for the pole 
when adding sleeves for quilt shows

At most quilt shows the requirement is for a 4-inch sleeve to be attached to the top of the quilt.  And in many cases that full 4 inches is needed, especially if PVC piping is used.  In those cases, though, if you have stitched the sleeve flat to the quilt the top edge of the quilt will be distorted by the pole.

I have discovered that adding a tuck in the sleeve relieves that distortion. Generally, if I fold the sleeve up to the edge of the binding, that is sufficient.

I happened to be adding sleeves to a couple of quilts today so I took some quick photos.  I hope you can see what I did.

Fold sleeve up to the edge of the binding and clip

You may notice that I have basted the sleeve to the binding because it is temporary.  When I know in advance that I want a permanent sleeve, I would stitch it in when applying the binding.  I also make my sleeves from a tube to protect the back fabric.

Then pin the bottom edge of the sleeve before whipping into place

That little bit -- no more than 1/2 inch of "give" -- makes a world of difference in how the quilt hangs from a pole like those supplied by display companies.

I'll do my best to get a photo of these quilts hanging in a couple of weeks so you can see what I mean.