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[Lynn Wigglesworth <lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com>]

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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