It’s official!  I am a klutz……  I am now a full-fledged member of the rotary-cutter-finger-slicers society.

It was always hard for me to imagine how someone could cut their finger with a rotary cutter.  Sure, they are a rolling razor blade, but surely no one would put their finger in the path of the cutter (or would they??).  It all happened in slow motion (a phenomenon that I don’t really understand, but this is how those traumatizing events happen to most people)…..  I was doing a paper pieced block and using my handy-dandy add a quarter ruler (I love that ruler) when out of the blue my cutter veered off the path of the edge of the ruler and rolled right over my left index finger… full force!!!!  YeeeOwwwwiiiiii!!  It did not hurt; it did not bleed at first; and it cut the whole chunk of flesh off along with a small sliver of my fingernail.

Now I must regress for a moment….  it was just a month earlier to the day that my Mom did the very same thing.  I ended up taking my Mom to the ER and after they xrayed her finger to make sure she did not nick the bone, she had 13  stitches neatly placed in the end of her finger.

Now the difference is Mom had sliced into her finger while I sliced a chunk completely off.  For me there was nothing to stitch to so I did not bother to make the trip to the ER.  I just applied pressure because once it started bleeding, it was profuse. 

End of the story:  now, three and a half months later, the fingertip is still healing inside and somewhat tender to the touch and the spot is not numb, but is tingly when pressure is applied.  However, there is barely a scar visible.  Now, how can I prove that I am a full-fledged member of the rotary-cutter-finger-slicers society?  I bet they aren’t going to let me into their meetings anymore…..

Here’s hoping that you are never initiated into this club!

Rotary cutter did it!!

When you display your quilts, it is very important to evenly distribute the weight over the width so that it does not distort or damage the textile.  100% cotton muslin is a fine choice to make any sleeve, but some may want to make a matching sleeve using the same fabric as the back to “hide” the sleeve.  Also, you may want to consider using the leftover fabric scraps from the top of the quilt to sew together a piece of fabric the size you need for the sleeve.  This is a good idea because the sleeve can provide original fabric if at sometime in the future the quilt needs a repair.

The sleeve should not be considered a permanent part of the quilt and therefore should never be stitched into the binding.  The exposure of the sleeve to the wooden dowel over time will eventually cause the cotton to deteriorate and it will have to be replaced.  This is the same reason that your sleeve should be made to completely encase the wooden dowel so that the wood never touches your quilt; the sleeve can deteriorate and be replaced, but damage to your quilt will be heartbreaking!

The instructions you find below in the PDF are for a 6 inch finished sleeve.  You can adjust the width to make it smaller by cutting a smaller width of fabric to start.  A good rule of thumb is to cut a strip that is twice as wide as what you want the finished sleeve width plus one inch.  You will lose about an inch in the seaming process.  So if you want a four inch sleeve, cut your fabric nine inches (4 + 4 + 1 = 9).

Hanging Sleeve Instructions

Click the link below to download the PDF.

Binding Tutorial (self paced)

Please let me know how this worked out for you after you try it.  I have worked very hard make this understandable for all levels of quilters; you can help me improve it by sending me your comments.

Thanks!

Big Cat

I have been longarm quilting since 1999 but have just begun to explore the world of art quilts.  This is my first blog and all about my journey (the good, the bad, and the ugly) in quilting.   I hope you find some useful information here about quilting.

Thanks for taking a look.