After a Loooooong break, I’m longarming again. My first quilt since 2019 is on the machine.
Yesterday, I unwrapped some new side clamps that I purchased in 20-something because my red snapper clamps were worn out. And, I am amazed! I wish I’d had these in 2009. Best clamps EVER!
Bonus: they have magnets in them so they hold my little tools that get lost easily. Thank you Fredrick C Hill! You are the best!
I was getting frustrated with trying to control a very long binding I was putting on a king size quilt. I tried throwing it over my shoulder. I tried putting it on a paper towel cardboard tube. I tried draping it over my sewing machine. Finally, I tried my trusty cone holder! Success!
Using inexpensive metal straps and plates from the hardware store with neodymium magnets makes a quilt safe hanging method.
Deciding to change the art quilt on my wall pretty often, I realized that a traditional nail wasn’t going to cut it. My quilts have variable sizes and weights. I got the idea for this setup from my magnetic name badge. Surfing my favorite magnet website, I found that there are magnets strong enough to even hang a regular quilt.
Neodymium magnets are very strong, and have a polished clean finish. Magnets strong enough to hang a bed quilt should be used with caution. Their strength could damage your fingers if your fingers or skin got slammed in between them.
For my test, I am hanging a 24×24 art quilt. I wanted temporary but strong and reliable setup so chose 3M command strips of the strongest I could find. My local home depot had 16 lb velcro sets for hanging framed pictures.
I used 1 13/16 in x 5 in tie plates (found in the lumber department in the structural straps section), and I also bought a variety of 20 guage strap ties in various lengths. 18 Guage would work too. But keep mind that there is a tradeoff in how strong a magnet sticks (thicker metal or more iron in the metal) versus weight of the metal. These bars will not sag because they will be oriented flat to the wall.
I overlapped two flat metal bars so they were long enough to fill the entire quilt sleeve but not stick out beyond the quilt. I put the command strips on the small tie plates. This size, five inches long, give enough surface room for the long command strips. The tie plates are then fixed to the wall and I allowed them to adhere for an hour to allow the command strip adhesive to develop full strength. I checked the width of the quilt back and made sure the tie plates were hidden behind the quilt. Put a magnet on the top of the tie plate.
I slid my assembled strap into the quilt sleeve and set it against the magnets. it was super easy to adjust the level. And it will be super easy to add length and tie plates with magnets.
The result is a super flat against the wall hanging arrangement that fully supports the quilt without pinching, compressing, or putting holes (pins or tacks) in your quilt.
I believe this is my hanging method of choice from now on!
Did you know regular old yellow number two school pencils are 1/4 inch in diameter? I always have them laying around to mark things.
What a quickie tool to grab to measure a seam allowance!
Did you know you can tape two yellow pencils together and then the center of their leads will be 1/4 inch apart?
What a quickie way to draw a line 1/4 inch away from another line!
What a quickie way to draw two lines 1/4 inch apart!
Free Form Quilts 