How do you fold your quilts?
 

After a show & tell at a sewing guild picnic, I offered to help a member fold her queen-sized quilts and started to fold one like I would a top sheet for a bed. I was informed in no uncertain terms that no real quilter folds a quilt like that. According to the member, all quilts MUST be folded on the bias for storage to prevent fabric strain. She ended up with a rather lumpy looking mess that she stuffed into a plastic bag.

I've made 100's of quilts and have always folded in "straight" lines. Display racks won't accommodate bias folded quilts. Seems to me that the plastic bag if used for long term storage could be more damaging than straight folds.
How many of you fold on the bias?

I admit, I fold a lot of my quilts on the bias for the same reason. However, I also fold them like you do if I want to display them and sometimes because I'm too lazy to do it any other way.

It offends me that someone would imply that you're not a real quilter based on how you fold stuff - life is too short! But, you could tell her that storing a quilt in a plastic bag is something "no real quilter" should do, either. :)


Janet

I fold them in a way so that they are not creased along the seam in the backing. If I have a 3 piece backing, I fold in half. If I have a 2 piece backing, I fold in thirds.

But mostly, I fold it the same way I fold all my blankets and towels.

mcwillia: Sounds like you had a close encounter with the Quilt Police.

I fold mine as gently as possible. I don't want any quilt police at my house for inspections. :)

I fold mine in fourths then roll them. I have had some for a long time and have never seen one damaged by the way it was folded.

Sounds like SHE is not too good at folding quilts or being a nice quilter like 99% of the ones I know. You are doing a great job and don't let anyone steal your joy!

Well then I guess neither of my grandmothers were "real" quilters! I never saw them fold their quilts on the bias. I have quilts made by them that are 40+ years old, that have been carried around and machine washed and been made into countless forts AND they've also survived being folded along the grain over and over again!

I think it probably makes a difference if you're making "heirloom" quilts that aren't meant to be used & that are destined to be passed down for generations (and also destined to spend a lot of time being folded up in a chest somewhere). But I make quilts to be USED, and I figure that "use" includes folding them in a practical way.

It is true that folding a quilt like a bed sheet will create permanent crease marks if the quilt is left folded for a while. (I have no idea how long it would take, but I have noticed quilts that had serious creases in them.) I think the lady was right, to a point, but she was also rude in the way she expressed herself. Also, she shouldn't have wound up with a lumpy looking mess if she truly knew how to fold her quilts. I try to store my quilts on a bed, not folded, but I found the following article, which explains how to fold on the bias and why to do so. I think I'll try it out next time I take a quilt to guild. However it seems to me that the real trick is to re-fold the quilt frequently, and in different patterns. If you're always folding it in half and half again and so on, then you're always creating the same pattern, whereas if you fold on the bias you will probably get a different fold pattern each time. I think it's that first two folds that are in danger of creating creases, and after that the folds are gentle and unlikely to crease.

http://annfahl.blogspot.com/2012/02/...re-quilts.html

I fold mine in several ways, NEVER put them in a plastic bag, and RE-FOLD them frequently. A quilter friend of mine stores hers in suitcases