Fibermania

Getting it up

I am speaking of artwork of course, and getting it up on the walls. Here we have two examples of how artquilts, or embroideries in this case, can be displayed. The larger frame was done in a frame-it-yourself studio, at mucho expense. However, I think it was way worth it, since this means the artwork will remain in great condition and on display and not stuck in some closet.

On the right is another, less expensive, do-it-yourself display idea. Quarter-inch plexiglass from a local plastics manufacturer which I found on switchboard.com.

Detail of the embroidery under glass

Detail of the embroidery which is NOT under glass, but mounted on the plexiglass.



Here's the scoop. The plexiglass is custom sized and ordered to have the edges 'flamed' which means they are melted with a blow touch to remove the saw marks. It comes with brown kraft paper stuck to both sides, to prevent scratches. This is removed and the quilt or fiber art is positioned and while I used a drill to make holes in the plexi to sew on the quilt, I would not do that now. Now we are using tiny adhesive Velcro dots to stick to the plexi and the quilt.

However 2 holes do need to be drilled through the plexi. Here I show one of the holes, with 30 lb. test nylon fish line used to loop through the holes, as a hanging device.

This David Walker piece is sewn on and then placed on a plexiglass easel. I got it in Tokyo, not exactly handy.

Two Marcia Derse pieces hang in the bedroom

while two Andy Stern works are hanging in the living room.

This Sylvia Whitesides quilt is mounted on suede board and framed without glass.

There are oodles of ways to get the art off the shelf and onto the wall. IKEA has a 20" square shadow box for $20 (in black only) and it comes with a mat with a 12" window. The frame has a spacer which recesses the artwork about an inch. A quilt larger than the 12" size could just be mounted directly onto the mat and look great.

Or use the idea from Deb Boschert. Get a gallery wrapped canvas (at least 1.5" deep) and paint it an appropriate color and mount the artquilt to the canvas. Imagine four 24" square canvasses grouped in a four patch with coordinating designed artquilts, with colors or fabrics in common. What an impact.

Tommy Fitzsimmons wraps some of her quilts around stretchers and staples the edges to the back, eliminating binding ( hurray!) The same idea could use stretched upholstery fabric as the mounting base, with the artquilt stitched or velcroed to the fabric.