am doing a quilt for a contest but there are two words used that I don't know what they mean,

the first one they are telling me if I use some of my fabric to enclose ___swatches___ of my added fabric,
my question what is swatches, and is there an specific size?
and the other question the quilt has to be 30" x 30" I have to finish it with a sleeve on the back, now, is there also a size for that? am trying to contact them, but all I have is an address and by the time, the answer the contest due date, I will not be able to enter and this is all I need to finish. so if there is some one that knows about this, I will really appreciate your help. thank you to you all, clara

Clara,

I wish I could help but I don't know ANYTHING about competitive quilting.

Good thing there are folks here who do!

Sushi

Swatches are just sample sizes of the fabric - not sure that there is a standard size

Sorry no help for the hanging sleeve

GOOD LUCK !!

I like to cut my hanging sleeve to be 5 or 6 inches times the width of the quilt(30 in your case) and then fold an inch to an inch and a half widthwise on each side and sew it down..then fold in half lengthwise wrong sided together and then sew it down raw edges together to the back of the quilt with an 1/8 inch seam.once you sew the binding on the stitches for the sleeve are covered.

Hope this helps you, good luck.

believe me any help is appreciated, am entering the contest for the fun of been there, thank you so very much to you all, clara

what contest is it?

Good Luck! Show us some pictures.

Usually sleeves for competition (or any quilt show, really) have to finish at a minimum of 4". You never know what the hanging apparatus will be - a thin rod, thick rod, slat, chain. It varies.

The instructions up above for making the sleeve are spot on. I prefer to put mine on after the binding is on, but that's a personal preference.

The only other thing I'd add is to build in a 1/4" of give in the sleeve. Regardless of which method you chose, you don't want it to lie flat - you want a little bit of room in there to compensate for the rod.

I like these instructions (with pictures):
http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com...lt-sleeve.html

Does the contest require you use specific fabrics, and then are allowed to add in a few of your own choosing? Maybe they want swatches of that. Unless specified, I would image a 5" square would be sufficient.

I think I am going to be using that system because the quilt is finished, is for the keepsake quilting contest, I did the local fair last year, but no sleeve was required, but with this one it is, like I said before, thank you so much for your help to you and the others for your prompt response to my post

Sometimes with the smaller quilts, quilt show organiers will just hang them with clips or pin it to a background that's hanging. Easier to put up (and take down).

And if it's Keepsake, I'm going to assume you had to buy a fabric pack that HAD to be used in the quilt. Is it the Log Cabin Medley?
http://www.keepsakequilting.com/prod...GE-MEDLEY-.htm

So I'll stick to my comment above about sending a 5" swatch of the two fabrics you added (if, in fact, you did). As long as the directions you received don't state otherwise. And did they want swatches from the fabric pack you used as well?

Please post a picture when you're done. Good luck!