When our children were young, we lived in a 100-year-old house in Northern Michigan. This beautiful old house had tall windows that let in a lot of light and fresh air in warm weather. The also made some rooms hard to heat. Putting up a window quilt in our son’s bedroom, increased the room temperature about ten degrees.
The following are my wife’s step-by-step instructions:
Measure the window width to the outer edges of the frame. Measure from the windowsill up to the top of the frame. You may want it a little longer to tuck in at the windowsill. Curtain rod hardware may limit how wide the quilt can be at top of the frame. If in doubt, make it your window quilt a little over size.
Cut the solid light color fabric for the backing. Make it four inches bigger on each side, top and bottom. That means that all edges will have four inches of extra fabric. The backing is the side that faces the window glass. It should be an already bleached light color or the sun shining on it will bleach making colors fade.
The middle layer needs to be good insulation and material that will not sag. Flannel, fleece or flat needle punch quilt batting is recommended. Do not use regular, ploy-fill, quilt batting
or it will shift downward. You do not want the filler to sag leaving no insulation at the top and too much at the bottom.
Clear a space to work on the floor or on a large table. Place the middle layer over the backing.
Cut a piece of fabric for the top that will be on the inside of the room. Cut this the width and length to match the measurements that you took in step one above.
Add the top layer to the backing and filler that you laid out in step 4. Pin the three layers together with big safety pins
Fold the excess backing fabric over to the front of the window quilt on all sides. Turn edges under (like a hem). Stitch all the edges down.
To attach the quilt to the window your can just tack it to the window using tacks and a hammer or use Velcro strips at top, bottom and sides. The self-stick Velcro did not hold up well for us we ended up sewing the Velcro to the quilt and tracking or stapling it to the wood window frame. Hang quilt on window starting at the top and smoothing on down to ensure a snug fit.
If you wish to allow light in during the day, you can simply roll the quilt up to half sash and tuck it into the window, then when you need it simply unroll again.
Supplies needed:
Backing; White or unbleached muslin fabric
Filler; Flannel, an old blanket, fleece or flat needle punch quilt batting
Topping fabric to suit you décor
Thread
Sewing machine
Velcro
The Energy Boomer's comments:
These simple window quilts are easy to make and will reduce your heating bills.
Adding a layer of reflective material like Radiant Barrier
I’ve been looking at the 3M Brand of picture hanging strips
It is OK to use pre-quilted material that is available in some fabric stores. Just bind the edges and go with it. The layers of quilting make better insulation than a single heavy layer like a blanket.
Click here for a free money saving report written by the Energy Boomer titled HOW SAVE MONEY ON YOUR NEXT HEATING BILL
Related Posts:
EASY ADD ON STORM WINDOWS FROM THE INSIDE
EASY ADD ON STORM WINDOWS FROM THE OUTSIDE
