Help Mounting an Art Quilt

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Myrna

CGF, Certified Grumble Framer
Joined
Sep 19, 2008
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184
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Central Oregon
I am mounting an Art Quilt that will be sewn onto a strainer with screen for the support and on top is silk for the backing. I have the strainer already stretched with the screen, my question is - What is the best way to attach the silk onto the strainer without ruining it and keeping it from sagging? Staples seem to pull the fabric. I know there is someone that will have the perfect remedy!
 
With quilting is difficult, since normally the fabric is quite thin, and the surface of the work may be uneven already from the stitching process when the artwork was made.

Never use staples or adhesives. You just need to be very patient and try to find where the right distribution points are with pins first, test it in hanging position. Sew it onto the backing material with small stitches, you need to "stretch" the fabric just a little bit.

The key is to make sure that the strength is distributed evenly, otherwise it may look fine flat, but the surface of the piece will become wavy when its hung.

Good luck.
 
Attaching the silk fabric (the showy part of the mounting) over the screen (the practical part of the mounting) without using staples should be relatively easy. I would use glue and ATG tape (to hold the silk in place until the glue dries).

Before someone hyperventilates and jumps to the conclusion that I am advocating attaching a quilt with glue and ATG tape, let me re-emphasize that I am talking about attaching the background fabric beautiful part to the screen/strainer functional part of the mounting . The screen will bear the weight of the quilt. The silk will look pretty. The quilt will be supported by stitches going through the quilt, the silk and the screen. And, yeah Dave, quilt bat under the silk would look even nicer.
 
Like Ellen, I would use an adhesive to attach the silk fabric to the screen-covered strainer frame. However, my choice for the adhesive would be either acrylic gel medium or Lascaux 360 contact cement. Both of these are chemically inert and long-term stable, and will stick to the materials at hand. Also, both are water soluble until dry.

The key benefit of using one of these adhesives is that it can be painted on the strainer frame's back edges and allowed to dry. Then, the silk fabric can be pulled properly tight as it is bonded to the frame by activating the dry adhesive using a tacking iron.

Kool Tack's new dustcover adhesive and their new fabric adhesive can be pre-applied to the strainer's back and heat activated, as well. Some other fabric adhesives can be heat-activated in a similar manner, but I'm not sure about their chemistry.
 
Thank you for your response. I had not thought of using an adhesive or gel medium. That makes a lot of sense because the silk can then be gently possitioned and stretched to look good and keep the grain straight. Off to the finish line. Delivery today!
 
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