Happy Jig and Hanging System Variation

by Nancy G Cook

Happy Jig, Happy Jig, all four orchid quilts are finished down to being signed, labeled and hanging systems completed. Sneak previews are available on my blog at http://nancygcook.blogspot.com.



Here is how the finished backs of my 4 orchid pieces look. My DH gave me some time, creativity, and skills to devise the hanging systems this morning.

Hint: You may want to stop reading here, if you do not want the full details of the hanging system.

The quilts hang from a non stretching cord that goes through a supporting form core which goes into a full sleeve. The full sleeve covers the back. The sleeve is sewed down to the top facing and the sides. The top of each sleeve side is left open for the first 4 inches and has a 1/4 inch tuck for ease. The bottom of the sleeve is hemmed and left open in order to insert the foam core.


Cord Cut at Angle and Glued to Stiffen

Cord is stiffened with glue to ease threading it through small openings in the foam core.


Wood Reinforcement for Foam Core

To keep the foam core from tearing, my DH cut, drilled and glued thin wooden reinforcers to each side of the drilled holes in the foam core. My DH is a wonder. He created this nice piece of engineering.


Close up of Wood Reinforcement and Cord

This photo shows the sleeve being pulled back to reveal the cord and reinforcement. We found that the quilt hangs better if the cord enters from the front to the back of the foam core The cord was threaded into the front of the foam core and then wrapped around the side of the foam core to the front to cross to the other side of the quilt. That leaves the knots next to the sleeve not the quilt as is seen in the photo.


Safety Pins Reduce Slack in Cord

When the widest quilt was hung we found that the cord showed above the quilt, so I used a hint from PJ to take up some slack with safety pins. The pins could be moved around until we removed sufficient slack.
Great idea PJ!!


Foam Core Details and Quilt Label

This photo shows the bottom of the quilt back showing the full sleeve, the quilt label and the information on the foam core.

Each foam core has the quilt title, my name, sizes and my telephone number. Each quilt has a label with even more contact information and a photograph of the inspiration.

Hope this explanation is not too confusing.