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  • From: Lynn Wigglesworth <lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com>
  • To: <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] making Window Quilts, long
  • Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:11:14 -0400


Well, I guess I'm not making real window quilts, just insulated
curtains. I don't want to spend any money; so far I've spent about $5 on
fabric remnants on clearance at Goodwill, and pieced them together into
quilt faces. I have to get 3 or 4 sheets for backing ($2.99 each at
Goodwill, unless I can find some on the $.25 rack). That's all I can
afford for this project. My wool will be the insulation.

Lynn Wigglesworth
Tioga County, PA

SJC wrote:
> I can help with this, having just finished up my 67th one.....obviously
> not all for myself.
>
>
> You need several layers of something. The best I've found yet (lucky
> me, have used other folks' money to make up what they want, but I get to
> see/assess the results of all.) is to actually fork over the $$ for a
> product called Warm Window, then make up with it a window quilt that can
> somehow be fastened right down the the wall or window frame. After
> using the wrong materials the most common mistake I see is that folks
> try to hang them from a curtain rod, then the air just goes right up the
> backside (window side) of them like air in a chimney---not what you want.
>
>
> The first ones I made for myself with Warm Window are now over 20 years
> old and have been washed quite a number of times. The product itself is
> a batting swedged to a layer of mylar, and backed with a UV resistant
> layer for the window side. Make your shade, and they recommend
> magnetized rubber strips to hold the shade against the window frame or
> wall, but I use Velcro, since I'm in it for blood :-) . I prefer the
> Roman shade type usually and I fasten the top right to a mounting board
> (which can have a cornice added over the top front or not, as one
> wishes), then I Velcro the sides. The side pieces of my window frame I
> have hinged at the window edge, so when shade is up they look like
> regular window trim. When I put the shade down, I turn the side trim
> piece toward window, exposing a strip of Velcro that's mounted to the
> wall (longleg staples). The shade I then stick right to that Velcro
> along the sides. The bottom I have weighted and it rests right on the
> sill on some of them, others I have Velcro at the base of the window
> trim (bottom piece) and a corresponding Velcro strip on the curtain.
> Net result you are aiming for is to have the thing tight against the
> wall/window frame all the way around. Made this way, they save me 20º
> overnight in the winter, hold summer heat back equally well. Using
> these judiciously, we got along 2 winters/summers on the VA coast
> without either heating or air conditioning, but were not always
> comfortable. Here I rarely use them in the summer, but they're up now
> for the winter, you can believe! So far I haven't had to make a fire,
> but I can see it coming.......
>
>
> Some of mine are on big, big windows where the sun moves across the
> window; those shades are made in 3 vertical strips each, and each 'join'
> is Velcro-ed along the sides, so I can have 1,2, or all 3 strips down
> depending on where the sun is hitting the window. On those each section
> has separate pullcords, kind of a PITA to rig but works pretty well.
> The other windows are all smaller and those are one panel traditional
> Roman shade types. All of the ones I've done for myself recently have a
> pieced or appliquéd top (front) piece, but they are nice, too, with an
> old quilt as the top (all my old quilts burned, so that's out for now,
> for me.) Most of the ones I do for pay have a light upholstery fabric
> for the top. They are OK and faster, therefore cheaper, but look too
> 'magazine-y' for me.....
>
>
> Warm Window has pretty good instructions on their site, will add a
> link. I hate the price of the stuff but usually can get it half off at
> JoAnn's, it's the only thing I ever buy there anymore. I have scrounged
> leftovers from various jobs and occasionally get enough for a whole
> shade that way, but try hard to buy for each job as I go---bulky to store.
>
>
> I have tried to make many imitations of the Warm Window product and have
> never come close to getting what they have. Either my rigs have not
> been anywhere near as efficient or they didn't hold up to
> use/washing/moving materials about. At one point I was fairly
> determined I was never going to buy more of the stuff, but I have
> crumpled. When I make them for other people, I don't offer an option,
> because they are a PITA to make and no way I'm gonna spend all that time
> and effort, even for pay, for a substandard result. If they don't want
> to pay the price, I just tell them to hang a wool blanket tight to the
> wall, as it's the next best thing I've found.
>
>
> http://www.warmcompany.com/wwpage.html is the link for WW instructions,
> near the bottom of the page. After 15 years or so of lousy
> instructions, they finally got a set that's accurate and easy to
> follow. It is, or was, a PDF and takes a while to d/l if you have
> dialup but worth it to save time/materials and get the job done with
> least bit of hassle.
>
>
> SJ, in VERY windy, rainy, Maine. Friends are here in an RV and I got
> them to move it, afraid tree would get 'em. We just did this a couple
> of days ago, thought that was our turn.....
>
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