How to Fold a Quilt on the Bias

If you are like me, you fold your quilts in pretty rectangles and stack them to store them or lay them on a bed or couch much like the picture above.  But, did you know that overtime, if you continue to fold your quilts on the straight of grain, fibers will break and eventually cause permanent damage?

I was recently reminded of this as I prepared the studio's sample quilts for long term storage now that quilt show 'season' is over for the first half of the year.  As the months passed, I began to notice wrinkles that became harder to iron out before hanging in the booth each show.  Worse yet, I saw some beautiful competition quilts that hung with unsightly creases down the middle that could have been prevented.

Fortunately, the girls in my quilt guild shared a simple technique that will save you a lot of grief down the road.

This tutorial will focus on how to fold a quilt on the bias to preserve your beautiful quilt that took months and a small fortune to make.

The Timepiece Quilt used in this tutorial measures 56 inches by 70 inches, but this method can be used on any size quilt.

Step 1: Lay your quilt on a bed, table or other flat surface.

Step 2: Fold the lower right corner up toward the center of the quilt making sure the fold is on the bias.

It doesn't matter with which corner you start as long as the fold is on the bias.

Step 3: Fold the lower left corner up toward the center of the quilt making sure the fold is on the bias.

Step 4: Fold the top left corner down toward the center of the quilt making sure the fold is on the bias.

Step 5: Making sure the fold is on the bias, fold the top right corner down toward the center of the quilt.  

Your quilt should now look like an envelope.  You can stop here if the quilt envelope or package is the desired size.  Continue on to Step 6 to make the quilt bundle smaller.

Step 6: To make the bundle smaller to fit on a shelf or perhaps in a mailing box or package, fold the quilt envelope up on itself parallel to previous fold lines.

Now your quilt is ready to stored or to be shipped, and any wrinkles can be removed with the light touch of an iron!

I would love to hear from you...do you have any folding or hanging horror stories?  Do you have a preferred technique for storing or shipping your quilts?