Odd shaped wall hanging question
 

If I make an odd shaped wall hanging that requires dowels to make it hang properly, will a quilt show take that?
The dowels would fit into little triangles on the back, sort of like a kite goes together.
Maybe a picture would help?

Watson

Yeah. Picture. But I imagine they would.

Here's a pic, on my design board....
[ATTACH=CONFIG]573054[/ATTACH]
There would have to be dowels run vertically and horizontally to hold the points out and then a sleeve added.

Watson
(And, I see where I'd have to move colours around...)

Check the rules or ask the show director?

I like the wall hanging.

Bear, I'm just wondering in general what people do for odd shapes. Not for a particular show.

Maybe that is more my question....is that even how people deal with odd shapes? With dowels? Or some other way?

Watson

love your wall hanging. it should win a few ribbons. please let us know how the show works out.

Instead of round dowels, I wonder if one could get flat pieces/strips of wood about the thickness of popsicle sticks - and then lash or glue them together.

I have volunteered at a national quilt show. First the quilts are sorted in the judging room. They are judged flat on a table, not hanging and they go through them fast, I mean really fast (for first elimination). Volunteers must rapidly move quilts from the table to carts. They are folded up if they are too big for the cart. Many quilts are piled into the carts so the ones on the bottom are indeed weighted down with all the quilts on top of them. Think of the kinds of carts used in industrial laundry facilities. These are the kind of carts that are used.

Then the carts go out into the show hall where volunteers slide the hang rod through the hanging sleeve and then hang the quilt. Hundreds of quilts must be hung in a few hours, often with a skeleton crew because so few people volunteer. With all the identifying cards attached. It is a hard, thankless job. Later the winners will have ribbons hung on them after the judges and scribes tally the points. Top winners will be rehung in special areas. Volunteers take care and wear white gloves but any odd size quilts can't be done the way you describe. No one will have time to insert dowels then figure out how to hang them on the normal size hanging rod. If the quilt shows up with dowels already in it that presents problems of layering in the cart and quite honestly the large shows don't want to deal with it. The few odd shaped quilts I have seen were at least normal across the top to put the hang sleeve on and slide it onto the rod. Even quilts with lots of embellishments are pretty much handled the same way maybe held to the side to drape over the top of the pile. Quilts with scalloped edges or prairie points or unusual edges still have a regular hang sleeve on the back and are hung the same way as square quilts. Round quilts the hang sleeve is attached as close to the arc as possible so it is still a straight hang sleeve on the quilt and yes, I have seed some round quilts flop over on the top if they weren't quilted enough to give them some stability.

Smaller shows may not be so hectic and may be more forgiving of odd shapes. Others may put your quilt into one of the specialty categories if they have one.

You would definitely have to contact the show to see if a quilt like yours could be accommodated or figure out a way for it to hang without dowels or reinforcements. If quilted densely enough with the right batting and perhaps a stabilizer of some sort, the two corners at the top may stay upright for your normal hanging sleeve to be sewn to the back of the 3 black on point blocks. If you put a stablizer of some sort in the outer blocks, the piece may hang flat but shipping and handling at the show may cause creases and fold marks to be visible.

I know many show quilters who have taken great care to ship their quilts, even rolling them on pool noodles only to see them at the show with fold marks due to the way the quilts must be handled in the put up and take down process.

I like the wall hanging. Hope they let it in.

Information from Quilt Canada entry....
Hmmmm.....

Watson

Of course everything depends on the rules of the show...but what I did with my butterfly...after I quilted all three layers of it and bound it... I cut a piece of cardboard a little smaller than the actual size.... then I cut an extra backing fabric just large enough for a turn under hem.... I stitched a hanging sleeve onto that... then I laid my completed wall hanging face down... laid the cardboard on top of that... laid the extra backing with the stitched sleeve face up on top of that... and then hand stitched it on. The work is non bendable.... but it hangs on the wall without any sagging. HTH.... here's a picture of it on the wall.[ATTACH=CONFIG]573060[/ATTACH]

I have used old wooden rulers, cut to fit, in place of round dowels.

Watson, could you mount it on a rectangular or square piece of whitefabric and put the hanging sleeve on the White fabric


Rob

I posted a 12x12 mini quilt a couple of weeks ago that I am using on the front door window to keep the morning sun out of my eye. I was afraid that hanging the square on point the side corners might curl in, so in the binding I sewed very narrow strips of plastic cut from a dish soap bottle. The strips are on the back side of the quilt but totally hidden in the binding. It gives the quilt just enough body to stay flat. The plastic strip is not as long as the side of the quilt. This does not answer your question about the quilt show but keeps the side points where they belong. BTW cool wall hanging.

Hi Watson, I made a round quilt, about 48-52", I mounted it on a "dream catcher". I contacted the quilt show I was entering (Denver National Quilt Festival, i.e. A Mancuso Show). I explained about the quilt and a "hanger" I had for it and asked if I could enter the quilt. They said yes. So, long story short, if you are planning to enter your quilt in a show, contact them and ask if they will accept it. Each show will have different rules/exceptions. Good Luck!

Thanks, everyone.
I'm wondering if I attached the stiff backing that people use for rug-hooking, if that would hold the top points up and give body to the rest of it? Then just attach the hanging sleeve to that?

This is all just conjecture at this pint...it isn't even quilted yet...but I certainly appreciate all the input.

Watson

If it is not a quilt for a show, I stitch small pieces of velcro the the back of the quilt at every spot that I think may sag. I tack the matching piece of velcro to the wall with a nail that has a head. Then I velcro the quilt to the wall.

I once saw a wall hanging shaped like the Star Trek Symbol in a show. If they will take that odd triangle, they should be open for just about anything.

An idea I haven't yet tried: between the batting and backing, put a layer of very heavy Pellon-type stuff or even bag-bottom stiffener. Quilt simply and bind as usual, then put horizontal hanging sleeve across the second row of circles. I think the interfacing would support the triangles nicely. You would have to glue-baste the sandwich and make binding a tad wider to accommodate the extra thickness. But of course I don't know how big this hanging is! was assuming fairly small.

It's about 4' by 4'

Watson

Wow. That is beautiful. I don't know the answer to your question.

What about using a stiffener? Fusing either Annie's Soft n Stable or Lazy Girl's Stiff Stuff (it's thinner) on the outer blocks to keep the points straight and then you could sew a regular sleeve behind the 3 black blocks on the top.

I have used the Stiff Stuff to make a small basket. It is stiff enough to hold the points, but it is flexible enough to lay flat or fold.

My former teacher made odd-shaped quilts but they were in smaller shows, like the Asheville quilt show and not AQS.

Your wall hanging is going to be beautiful. I love the colors you have chosen. Your work is just beyond anything I could ever dream of doing. Keep those pictures coming!

Could you use boning? Black boning is flat and could be a bit hidden on the back....just a thought.

Caspharm...I am going to look into the Stiff Stuff once I get it completed. That might work!

Boning may work too, but then I wouldn't be able to ship it to a show, if it got accepted.

Thanks, everyone!

Watson