In past years we have turned in quilts for the show  in a pillow case. This meant a volunteers had to pin a copy of the application in a sheet protector with four safety pins to the pillow case. Doing that for 250-300 quilts makes for sore fingers!

This year we are being asked to make special pillow cases for our quilts that have a pre-attached vinyl sleeve. In this way the volunteer can slip the copy of the application in the sleeve and ditch the safety pins.

Are you in?

It is easy and I am going to give you some hacks if you are in a hurry.

The best way is to find a yard of fabric that you you can sacrifice for the pillow case / bag. I found some fabric I bought in 1990s that has badly faded on the fold lines. It was not quite big enough so I patched it.  It doesn’t even need to be cotton. Great for those poly blends or make it wild so you can recognize your pillow case when you pick it up.

Fabric: 42″ wide x 36″ long

On  one 42″ wide side fold the edge 1/2″, iron  and then fold again 4 ½” and iron. Sew it down. This is the pillow case opening.
Set it aside.

Buy some clear vinyl (Beverly’s or Walmart) or shop your closet for some of those vinyl bags they sell sheets and blankets in and cut a bag up.  The vinyl sheet should be cut approximately:

Vinyl = 9½” x 12″

Tape the vinyl sheet to the fabric about 7″ from a salvage edge and with the 9½” side butted under the hem you created earlier. Or place it where you think will be best.

 

 

Find a large zig-zag stitch and sew the vinyl to a single layer of fabric. Remove the masking tape as you sew.

Jeanne A. says that she had trouble sewing on vinyl. Her solution was to put a strip of tissue paper on top of the vinyl and sew through the paper. She found that that stopped the foot from slipping. My machine has a a walking foot and I had no slipping. If you use tissue paper  and tear it off afterwards. Eliz.

Next sew the side and bottom seams of the pillow case fabric. You now have a special pillow case that will make the acquisition volunteers happy!

Don’t Want to Make a Pillow Case?

No Problem. Cut a sheet of vinyl like before and tape it to a pillow case. Then hand sew it with a nice beefy needle. Take big stitches, it is not for show it just has to keep a sheet of paper from slipping out. Be careful to only sew only one layer of fabric to the vinyl.

It took me 15 minutes while watching TV to get those seams done!

If the pillow case is for a garment, make a hole at the top of the pillow case to slip the hanger through and reverse the vinyl sheet so the opening faces the top hole.

Don’t Forget!

• You need a pillow with a vinyl sleeve for each quilt and garment you enter. No vinyl cover is needed for a Challenge quilt.
• All pillow cases needs to be marked with your name and phone number.
• Make the pillow case slightly larger if your quilt is huge!

Have Fun!

If you spot errors, please comment or call Elizabeth.