[PW] circumference question

[Karen Lofstrom]

On Nov 28, 2007 9:48 AM, Nancy Jo Leachman <nancyjo at salpublib.org> wrote:

> Is there a way I can tell if the 17 pieces will indeed form a circle? That is, since I got it at a yard sale, how can I tell if all the pieces are there?

Do you really need to fit them together? Just draw a circle of the
size you want on your wall (tack, piece of string, washable chalk) and
then arrange the pieces around the circle. Hold them against the wall
with tacks or better yet, sticky gum material of the sort you buy in
art or office supply stores to attach posters without damaging the
wall. You can space them or overlap them, whatever's necessary to make
the circle.

That said, I'd advise against using them that way. Any cloth hung in
bright natural light will attract dust, fade, and rot. Old curtains
fall apart into dusty shreds. Doesn't take all that long, either.

The best way to display quilts is to suspend them on rods, attaching
them with rod pockets sewn at the top, and to rotate them, so that any
quilt is only on display for a couple of months at a time. Then it
should be carefully washed and put away for a spell. If you don't want
to do that with your quilt pieces, perhaps you should just pay a
quilter to piece them into a top and quilt the top. It would be more
respectful to your quilt pieces and the work that went into them.

If you've got a big expanse of wall you want to decorate cheaply,
consider buying some frames at an art store and stretching some
colorful cloth over them. The cloth will eventually rot, but then you
can just strip it off and buy another few yards at the fabric store.
See home decorating magazines for other ideas.

--
Karen Lofstrom
a quilter