Frame Work

The main galleries of Quilt House are receiving a fresh coat of paint this winter in preparation for the grand opening of our new addition (slated for June 2015). In the meantime, we are inviting guests to visit the museum to view other displays free of admission now until the galleries reopen on February 6, 2015.

There is plenty to see and do--including trying your hand at quilting on a frame in our Reception Hall. Using a frame donated by a friend of the museum and a quilt top from the personal collection of one of our curators, a few of our staff members and volunteers went to work assembling the new hands-on display last week.

Mary Ann and Mary assembled the frame in the eye of the needle (our Reception Hall). Then removed the old denim on the stand.

Which they replaced with fresh muslin.

Then they pinned the quilt top to the muslin.

And rolled the quilt--with the help of Carolyn and Stacey--to stretch the top. Stretching the material over the frame (which can be re-rolled to accommodate the whole top) gives greater ease for quilting.

With that the quilt is ready for visitors to quilt.

We'll be sure to share updates on the quilt's progress on our social media pages.

Have any of you quilted by hand on a frame? What advice would you offer up to anyone trying it for the first time?