Quilt show question about sleeve
 

I am wanting to enter my quilt into a juried show, and they say in the app that the sleeve must be "with an opening of 4 or more inches sewn to the top back of the quilt. The sleeve must have 1/4" -1/2" of ease between the outer edge of the sleeve and the quilt back"

If my quilt is 52" wide, then my sleeve needs to be 4" tall x 51" wide? I don't understnad the "ease" and does it mean that the sleeve needs to accommodate like 4" pipe/dowel?!

Here is a great tutorial. Yes the sleeve needs to accommodate a pole or dowel, and some shows use boards.

http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com...lt-sleeve.html

Those are pretty standard parameters for shows.

When they say "ease", what they mean is the front face of the sleeve can't lay flat against the quilt. This is because if you DO sew a sleeve with no ease, when the quilt is hung there will be a bulge on the front of the quilt. The dowel or board takes some space, and if you don't allow space in the sleeve, it will take it from the quilt, which then won't hang as nicely.

If you look at the very last picture in the link that feline fanatic posted, you will see very clearly how the front face of the sleeve doesn't lay flat against the quilt.

The 4" seems excessive until you see how a lot of shows use large dowels, and personally I'd rather have lots of space when a volunteer is shoving a wooden rod into the sleeve. :thumbup: Nothing against volunteers, and I appreciate all the hard work they do to make the shows happen. It's just the nature of hard wood vs. soft fabric.

Here is a youtube tutorial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NO70_ENjQk

You have to do everything exactly as stated otherwise your quilt will be disqualified. They also will look very carefully at your binding. I learned that in my first juried show. Also make sure you are entering your quilt in the correct class. Good Luck!

Thanks everyone! Checking out the video now...

What sorts of things will they look at in the binding. I did a pretty traditional french binding, and hand stitched it to the back.

This is my favorite tutorial -- by Bonnie K Browning, the Executive Show Director for AQS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_Vd82aSiAA

Does the binding lay flat? Is it filled with batting all the way out to the edge? Are the hand stitches even & nearly invisible? Is the binding a 1/4" all the way around on both sides (unless you chose a different width for artistic reasons & are entering it as an art quilt)?

Thanks for the links. Both are great tutorials.

I did not know the !/4" rule. I thought that was a preference. Having it stuffed was not a preference. Bigger is an ART quilt?

Good luck with the show! Your quilts are crazy beautiful so I'm sure you will do well. Let us know what happens!