Do it yourself!

 At the Genesee ValleyQuilt Club "Quiltfest" a couple of weeks ago- which I have still not edited the pictures for a post!- There was a guy selling magnetic quilt hangers for wall/ art quilts.  I was instantly interested, having just rearranged the quilts in my "gallery" for the month of June.  It is always frustrating trying to make the quilts I think match the season/ month fit on the wall where the nails are. 

So I listened to the whole pitch for the "Magnificent" hangers- essentially super strong magnets on apiece of metal mounted to the wall with a command adhesive strip- You insert a metal rod or flat piece of metal into the sleeve of your quilt and voila- straight and flat, and secure!  So I asked how much.  That was when my excitement died.  $55 for five hangers?  Now don't get me wrong, I do not plan to move the hooks every month, but this sounded like a wonderful alternative to the too easily warped wooden dowels for all but the smallest pieces.  Most of them hang on a single nail, so they don't hang nicely once the dowels bend from the weight of the quilts.  But that is a LOT of money. 

So I headed to what I refer to as the toy aisle at Home Depot.  It's where you find magnets, masonry line (which I knit with, and use for various things in the garden)
A couple of aisle over I found the "mending plates"- the exact same size as the adhesive strips.  For just over $20 I got enough stuff for 6 of the hangers! 

 This is how it looks on the wall. 

I think the magnets they had are a little stronger, as I ended up using three of the hooks for a wall quilt about 34 inches wide.  The magnet has slid to the bottom of the plate, so it shows a little above the top of the quilt.  I wonder if the "magnificent" ones also do.  That could be solved by either turning the plate sideways, or painting it.  I'll let you know.  :-)


The Pope is issuing something called an encyclical, dealing with climate change.  I obviously know little about the Pope, but I couldn't agree more with him:

The Earth, he says, “is protesting for the wrong that we are doing to her, because of the irresponsible use and abuse of the goods that God has placed on her. We have grown up thinking that we were her owners and dominators, authorized to loot her. The violence that exists in the human heart, wounded by sin, is also manifest in the symptoms of illness that we see in the Earth, the water, the air and in living things.”

I am grateful for:
Cait putting up with me.
Oma time with Jonathan.
Some time in the sewing room.
Taking a few minutes to relax when I need to.
Air conditioning