Report from the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show 2026, Madison - Lectures & Demos

 

Although I did not sign up for any classes or workshops this year, I did sit in on several free lectures. 

The Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts in Cedarburg - did a presentation on preservation and storage of quilts

They also have coverlets! But that was not the focus of this lecture.  Everything they have has been donated, as they don't have any budget for procurement.  And at present, they are at capacity, and will have to start letting some things go.  They brought a long some pieces from their teaching collection to show what happens to quilts that have not been so well taken care of:

•   Colors can run if not properly cleaned, so be careful about cleaning your quilts.  They recommend vaccuuming the dust off periodically
•   Yellowing can happen if textiles are not allowed to breathe.  Don't use air tight plastic storage boxes.  
•   Protect from UV Light and dust
•   Rips and tears can be the result of dyes in the fabrics.  Over time, these chemicals can eat away at the fabric.

They recommended storing quilts flat if at all possible.  My friend Laura does just that -- She has 2 beds in the basement where she stores her quilts, laid out flat, and covered with a sheet to protect from dust.  There are no windows in that room, so UV light is not a concern.  Turns out this is the BEST option for storing quilts.   They don't have room for flat storage in the museum, so they use acid-free archival storage boxes.   And they have a crew of volunteers who come and help re-fold the quilts periodically so that the fibers don't get stressed along the folds.

Someone asked about cedar chests ...  They did NOT recommend cedar chests as the oils in the wood can stain fabric and fibers.  They were talking about cottons today in reference to the quilt show.  I put the woolens in the cedar chest.  They did say that if you do use a cedar chest, wrap your items in an old sheet to create a barrier between your collectibles and the wooden chest.  I will have to revisit that ...  I think I may have put some deli paper in between, but not a fabric sheet.

I would like to make a pilgrimage to that museum to see what else they have.  I think they also offer classes and workshops in addition to their regular exhibits.

 

Quilter's Rule - Heart Instructions  [Video]

Quilters Rule showed some of their acrylic templates and what you can do with them as far as quilting.  Some of the patterns are what I've been drawing on quilting tissue paper and stitching through.  Although that works quite well for me, I thought the templates might be a simpler way to get the same designs without all the paper and tracing.   I bought the 2 acrylic hearts to try ...  She explained it's kind of like using spirograph, and encouraged people to PLAY.

 

Tsukeniko Inks Demo

I've seen these inks for years, and may have even purchased some at some point.  But it was good to see a Master using them for real.  He used shaving cream as a substrate / thickener for stencils, then added a little glitz.  I asked for some of his samples as he had a stack building up from his demos.  I did not purchase anything there, but my mind keeps returning to that demo and what I could do as far as surface design ...  

 Lots to learn!

Report from the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show 2026, Madison - The Quilts

I was able to attend The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show in Madison this week.  I'd only been there once before about 20 years ago, and I was overwhelmed and exhausted that I haven't been back until now.  I did a better job of pacing myself this time!  For  2 days, I joined a congenial group of 4 other ladies from my local Quilt Guild.  We rented a VRBO house in Sun Prairie that turned out to be a better deal than getting hotel rooms. 

  

This Quilt Show started about 20 years ago by Nancy Zieman (Sewing with Nancy) and Wisconsin Public Television (PBS).  Although, Nancy Z. died in 2017, her very sizeable vendor booth had a cardboard cutout of her and several posters, so it kind of felt like she was still there.  I gave her cardboard cutout a hug--Other people took pictures with posters of her.  She really was an amazing and kind person who did so much for sewing and quilting -- and people still miss her.   Sigh!

The Quilts 

As you might expect, there were some of the amazing quilts on display.  Here are a few inspiring pictures to give you a taste of what I saw:

 

Dance of the Butterfly by  Wilhelmina Vandevoorde

 

This was by far the most amazing quilt I saw in the show.  Just WOW!  She won a blue ribbon, too!

 

 

The Importance of Sampling in Weaving

 

This is what I'm going for. 

I am working on a new overshot coverlet. The draft is from the Helen Bress Book of Coverlets (#258). The pic above is what I'm going for, worked up in iWeavIt. 

 

This is what is weaving up on my loom in the initial sampling/testing trial phase. 

It's very elongated on the vertical plain in real life. If I add the tabby in iWeaveIt, it's even longer and more out of proportion.  The aspect ratio for the square within the circle is 3 to 4 inches. It should be more like 3 to 3 inches to be square.

What can I do to make the motifs square? 

• I am already using 20/2 cotton for the tabby against 10/2 warp (Normally, you'd use the same size yarn for the tabby in overshot.) 
• The pattern yarn is a sport weight single wool yarn in teal.
• I'm using a 12-dent reed with 2 ends per slot. 
• If I mess with the pattern draft (ie removing a few lines in the middle of the circle to make it square), then the Xs won't line up across the pattern. 
• Should I use an even thinner thread for the tabby? 
• I don't think beating harder is the answer. It's pretty compact as it is. 
• Or do I just resolve to like the elongated pattern I'm getting? [Don't worry about the missed dents -- I've already fixed that error.] 

I asked weavers in several FaceBook Weaving Groups what to do to square up that motif in real life so that it looks like the anticipated draft. The collective wisdom advised the following:

1) Cut it off the loom and wet-finish it. It may settle out the way I want it to without any further changes needed.

 Here is the sample freshly cut off the loom, showing the elongated circle and squares.

I cut this sample in half, and washed (wet-finished) half of it to compare with the original. 

 

Here is the wet-finished version of Sample #1, laid on top of the control half.

You can see that the wet-finished sample did shrink a bit along both the horizonal and vertical axes -- as expected-- but not enough to mitigate the too long motifs. 

2) Try a wider sett. For instance, if I'm using 24 epi in a 12-dent reed with this result, try 20 or 18 epi instead. For 20 epi, this would mean a 10-dent reed with 2 threads per slot.  The pattern thread needs more space to do it's thing.

Why this solution won't work in this case: I tried this on iWeaveIt, and it did not seem to make a noticeable difference in the virtual draft. So why go through the work of re-sleying? Also -- I don't have the weaving width available to make it wider on this loom, unless I cut out one of the three pattern repeats -- and that would be wasting too much warp and too much time.

It's a good thought to keep in mind for future coverlets, though.  That would have to be part of the planning and set-up. The sectional warp is already set up for a 24 epi. I'd have to start from the beginning to widen the sett, wind on all over again, and thread heddles, etc. Too far in to do that all over again now. 

 

3) Cut a few of the pattern shots to square up the motif. For instance try 2 or 3 shots of teal instead of the 4 mapped out in the draft, especially in the square within the circle motif.

Here I highlighted the lines with that square within the circle, just so I knew I was changing the right elements in iWeaveIt.
 

This was sort of a partial solution. It DOES make the square smaller, but it skews the diagonals going across the full motif if I didn't change anything with the stars.

4) Cut 1 pattern shot out of every quarto on the treadling. This approach preserves the diagonals and the pattern aspect. The proposed changes happen in the treadling without having to mess with sett or anything else in the horizontal plain. This was my husband's idea.

• 4 pattern shot repeats > 3
• 8 pattern shot repeats > 6 

 

Why this seems to be the best solution: Eureka! This seems to be the best solution, and the pattern draft changes in proportion to all the other elements.  It removed about 40 pattern shots out of the overall motif.  It looks a little squashed in iWeaveIt, but this view does not show the tabby shots.

 

160 pattern shots became 120 with this revision:

 

Here is Sample 2 freshly cut off the loom with this modification. 

• You can see the diagonals are contiguous through the stars, circle and center squares. 
• The center square is much closer to being square.  It could use a little more tweaking but this is close enough for me!

Here is the original pattern draft (again) for comparison. It's close! 

 

Here, I've taken the modified Sample #2, cut it in half and washed, or wet-finished, the left half to see how that would change things. The right half has NOT been wet-finished and is still freshly cut off the loom. As expected, the sample on the left shrunk up a bit with wet-finishing, making the square in a circle just a bit more compact.

Looks pretty close to the draft I was going for!

The pattern repeat (without the top row of stars) is also about 2-1/2 inches shorter than the first version, which is a significant reduction!

 

Here are a few other suggestions fellow weavers offered: 

5) Try a thinner wool yarn for the pattern. 

Why this won't work in this case: I've already invested in this Sport Weight singles wool yarn from Maritime Fibers. Singles are hard to find as it is ... and I like the way it sampled in the Wandering Vine Coverlet last year.

It's a good thought to keep in mind for future coverlets, though. 

 

Here's a good example of how the singles wool yarn puffs up and expands once it's wet-finished. 

The Left side is wet-finished compared to fresh off the loom on the Right side. 

It's exactly the effect I was after!  

Singles are not so good for knitting as they don't have the structure or strength of a multi-strand yarn. But for weaving overshot, the singles are given the architecture, structure and stability of the tabby web that holds it in place and keeps it from fraying or breaking. That way, it can do the job it was intended to do:  Creates air pockets to keep a body warm in cold winters. 

6) Try an even thinner tabby thread -- as in sewing thread.

I saved some gray thread from my mom's quilting stash just for something like this. Although I don't think I'm going to go this route, it nice to know it's another option in the quest for square motifs in overshot. 

How to Restart Weaving Projects after Cutting off Samples

How to Easily Cut Off and Restart Your Weaving Projects - One Stick Method - by Alix Victoria

 

After cutting off the samples for the new coverlet project, I found a simpler way to lash on again without having to tie everything on again "just so."   This was a very helpful video!

 

 

 

Here, I've added a red thread as a cutting line, as well as a stick to act as the ballast for the new tie on.

 

 

Here, I've folded the new selvedge edge over/under the stick woven into the selvedges to hold all the ends, and keep even tension.

 

Then I secured it with re-usable velcro zip ties. 

 

 

Here's a detail shot of the velcro zip tie attachment point.

No bulky knots! 

 

This seems to be working out fairly well -- so far!  

Now I can actually start weaving this coverlet for real!

 

The Next Step in Weaving Set Up: Threading Heddles

The new project is for a new coverlet -- which should keep me busy for a few months.  I'm retired now, so I am no longer limited to weaving only on Sundays.   Hurray!

This pattern is from the Helen Bress Book #258, but I think I've seen it listed elsewhere as Church Windows (???)  It's an overshot pattern, which means there will be a white tabby between each of the colored yarns in the weft.

There are 3 repeats of this pattern across 28 inches. 

I am planning to do 3 or 4 90-inch long panels that will be sewn together in a final piece big enough for my bed. 

There are so many steps to setting up a loom for weaving.  It can take as long to set up as it does to actually make cloth -- which is the fun part!  But if I want to weave, I've have to make peace with the set-up process.  The set-up is just as much a part of weaving as making the cloth.

 

I threaded all those warp strings through the 681 heddles over 3 days.  It didn't take as long as I thought it would--only about 4-5 hours.  That's a new record for me!  This is the important step that essentially programs the loom to make the design, in combination with treadling.  

After that, it's sleying the reed in the beater bar.  I usually lay it down for this step, which makes it easier on my body.

It looks like I missed a few slots, but I don't think that will be a problem, if the heddles are threaded correctly.  It will just even out as I weave. 

 The next step is to tie onto the front beam.  It went better this time than it's ever gone!  This is usually a very frustrating step in trying to get even tension.  Because I spent the time and effort to correct the winding on step, it helped prevent problems at this step -- proving that it was worth spending the time and effort to make those corrections!  Vindicated!

I tied on each 1-inch bundle with 24 threads--which worked very well! 

I checked both the plain weave sheds, and did not detect ant crossed threads or other problems that can show up at this stage.  Hurray for double-shecking my work as I threaded! 

 

I am using single spun wool yarn (which is traditional for coverlets), sport weight from Maritime Family Fiber in Maine, though this yarn comes from Canada.  This is the teal.  It reads bluer in the photo than it is in real life.

1 4-oz. skein / cake fills 7-1/2 7-inch bobbins for my large boat shuttle. 

1-4-oz skein / ball is 430 yards.  (They come in skeins, which I had to wind into balls.)  I will keep notes on how far a bobbin weaves, and how many bobbins I will need for this project. 

I'll have to do some experimenting before I start in on the coverlet.  I may need to make some adjustments to the treadling, as I am not sure the pattern has accounted for the tabby wefts.  It may be too elongated as written.  That's why I ran some extra yardage for the warp.     I'll save that for tomorrow!  

I am so excited and happy to be this close to weaving again! 

A Few More Adjustments on the "Little" Loom

Uneven lift on the shafts linked to the same treadle.

As I was setting up tie-ups for the treadles on my latest weaving project, I noticed that the shafts were not lifting evenly ...   With 2 shafts per treadle, you want the shafts to raise even with each other, so that the eyes of the heddles are even with each other.  I don't remember this being an issue for my last project on this loom.   ???

 

After I thought about it for a while, I realized I could adjust the chains on the lower shafts.   So I moved the attachment point up 1 link in the chain.  That turned out to be a perfect solution!   Now the shafts are lifting evenly, as they should!

Lesson Learned: Re-winding the Sectional Warp

29 sections re-wound on in flat ribbons -- like they should have been done the first time.  Look at the nice flat ribbons on the bottom of the warp beam.

But let me back up a bit ...

I've been watching The Vampire Lestat tv series on AMC.   One of the big themes is "The Failures."  Here's mine -- I was so excited to finally have the sectional warp and the spool rack and the tension box, that I rolled on the warp without really thinking about it ... It was supposed to be so easy and hassle free, right?

 Badly wound on.  The tell-tale sign is the slants at the top and bottom of the rounds.

Well, most of the sections wound on unevenly -- not as beautiful flat ribbons, but lop-sided and sloping, which means the differentials over 16 yards are going to cause mongo tension problems when it comes to actually weaving. 

So I had to pull them off one section at a time and re-wind them more evenly.  How did I do it?

The first section, I thought I could pull it off in a straight run as if direct warping.  But that got so hopelessly tangled, that I had to cut it off and start over.  Here's the method that finally worked:

 

To pull it off, I ran it through the tension box again, in an effort to maintain nice even tension, and keep  the separate strands straight and even, and prevent tanlging.

 

Wound the warp onto a large rag shuttle, adding choke ties every 18 inches (or so).

 Combed out the extra so that it ran off the end, where I could cut the ends even again.   I literally used a cheap black hair comb for this task.

 

 

This photo shows  the difference in the length of the strings in the same section wound on with that that slant.  Quite a difference from the short end to the long end.  Better to fix it now, than while trying to weave! 

And wound it back on -- again through the tension box.  This time, I made sure it wound on flat and even.  Usually that meant making sure the tension box was aimed at the middle of the section.   Now that I know I need to watch out for this, I will NEVER make this mistake again!

Here I thought this sectional warp set-up was going to be such a time saver!  Ha--I wasted about 3x as many hours to get this warp wound on properly.  It took about 30 hours to re-wind all the sections manually.  Better to deal with it now than to be so frustrated when it comes to weaving.  Someday, it will be a huge asset, but for now, I am still learning.  Anything worth doing, is worth doing badly at first!

Next to my beloved Lestat on learning from failure, I prefer Nelson Mandela's quote about reframing defeat: "I never lose.  I either win, or I learn something."   As I said, I will NEVER make this mistake again!   

Lesson Learned!

Simple Measuring Tool to Aid in Winding a Sectional Warp

The Royal Hand Weavers of Nigeria demonstrate an ingenious tool to track how much warp is being wound on.  This is simply a pre-measured string wound onto a separate spool.  This is the guide string that keeps track of how much warp they are winding onto their warping drum, so that all sections have the same amount. 

I thought this would be a good way to keep track of how much I am winding on.  I know you can count the turns, but it seems something always happens to interrupt that process -- a tangle, the dog wants to go out, or whatever-- and you lose track of where you were in the counting.  I also purchased a gadget that will measure the string as it passes through (something fisherman use), but that seems to be unreliable--and I don't have the right sized batteries for it.  This analog way of tracking the length of the warp should be fool proof! 

Without having to re-invent the wheel, I tried using my ball'n winder because it's already designed to easily wind and unwind yarn.  I also considered using my skein winder, but it takes up a lot of space ... 

Very simply, I attached the ball'n winder to the top of my spool rack.  It has a pre-measured guide string in a neon yellow color that will stand out from the natural cotton.  I attached it to an empty section on the warp beam (It does not go through the tension box), and let it roll on with the 24 yarns for the "real" section.  When it runs out, I know I've wound on the required amount of yarn.  

This system worked like 2 charms!  

 

 

Cardboard guides to keep the guide thread winding onto the correct section. 

The only caution is that the section used for the guide string should also have the little metal pieces that make sure the string winds onto the right section.  Sometimes, it missed and wound around the rod instead of the section.  Honestly, I had to watch that guide string winding on more than the section with 24 threads!  Because I did not have a 2nd set of the little metal guides that slip onto the section separators, I made some out of cardboard.  Very make-shift.  I'll have to order another set for that very important section! 

Thinking Out Loud: Planning a DIY Spool Rack for Sectional Warping

 Finished Spool Rack / Creel

Someone gave me a tapestry weaving loom (Thank you Jean P.), but I decided that I don't need yet another new hobby at this point (Maybe someday when I have to downsize to a quieter smaller loom, but not now.)  If I want to do tapestry, I'd probably work that out on one of the floor looms --I'd just be working horizontally vs. vertically, and not using the treadles.   

My husband helped me re-work this Navajo frame loom into a spool rack [Sorry -- I don't have a before picture.  Just imagine the frame above without the spools.]  These racks are ridiculously expensive to purchase already made, but they look simple enough to make at home -- or to adapt from existing items.   Bonus: My Dear Husband has agreed to help with this project.

 

Here's another shot, so you can see the 24 threads being fed into the tension device.  Order from chaos!  It just amazes me that this can work at all. 

Would the plastic bobbins work better with my bobbin winder?  It looks like I'm going to be spending a lot of time winding bobbins from large spools of cotton. Another option is to just buy the spools of cotton.  Captain Yarn has about the best price for 10/2 cotton.   I wound up buying 30 1/2-pound spools of 10/2 cotton from Captain Yarn in Canada, as he had the best price (plus $36 shipping)--before Bump's tarriffs kicked in a few years ago.  I will need 24 spools to wind a sectional warp for a coverlet.  I got the extras for the tabby weft.  

I cut some lime green rounds off of a pool noodle to act as spacers between the spools.  I was worried about runaway spools, but once I started filling the sectional beam, that was not a problem.  The tension box keeps things under tension and rolls out the yarn at a nice pace -- however fast you roll it on.  

Here is some of the research I did before making my DIY spool rack, just in case it might help someone else out there: 

There are multiple options for the 4-inch spools, too.  Cardboard or plastic.     The plastic spools sell for  $3 or $4 each.  [Rosie's Plastic Spool for $3 each or Leclerc's Plastic Spools for $4 each.  The cardboard ones from Schacht are $3.75, although you can get them cheaper on Amazon -- but I suspect you get what you pay for there-- They are also smaller.  So it may be worth the investment to get the good ones from The Woolery.  The official Spools for weaving hold 8 oz. of yarn.  That seems like a good benchmark for loading the bobbins.  

It sounds like I'd need to amend my DIY electric bobbin winder to use the Schacht cardboard bobbins so that it would be secured on both ends.  Not sure if it would work for the plastic bobbins.  I suspect it's a balance thing?  Since I am using the pre-wound spools, I don't need to waste time winding my own, and since my anticipated long-warp projects will be for coverlets, I can go with the standard white cotton spools.

More thinking out loud:

Here are a few spool racks currently on the market to give you an idea of what I'm talking about --along with the crazy high prices:

Folding 24-in. Spool Rack from Ability Weavers in MI 

• It folds up flat for easy storage.
• It also has the thread guides.
• Made for 4-inch 1/2-pound thread spools.
• Holds 24 spools.
  
• $165   
• Sales at Ability Weavers go to hiring more weavers.  They really do give back to the world.  It's a good cause.
  

Here's the Schacht Spool Rack

• Holds 40 4-inch spools.
• $377 at The Woolery.
• It doesn't seem to have the thread guides. 

 

  I
I

I found this one on Pinterest, but the follow-up link did not lead to more details.

I like how the centers turn for installing/swapping out the spools.  I wonder how hard that would be to replicate?  Hubby says KISS, so I guess that's a no.

 

 

Leclerc Bobbin Stand with Thread Guide (photo from The Woolery)  which sells for $213

This DIY version is from one of the weaving groups.  They added the thread guides to hold the thread up and keep the thread from slipping off the ends.  Yes, I think we can do that!

 

Will I need the thread guides, too?  Yes-- We added them. 

Setting up a Sectional Warp Beam--Like Real Weavers Do!

 

Don't those sections look lovely! 

[Later edit: I realize now that I will need to re-work some of these sections as they did not all wind on in even and flat ribbons, which will cause tension problems later on, so I need to deal with that issue BEFORE I thread heddles.  Still--It was a good 1st run! and good practice.] 

24 lines coming into wind on a section.

I love the way this looks -- kind of like a spider web. 

Now that I have the "little loom" (Not so little really: It's a Kessenich 30 -inch 4-shaft floor loom) newly set up with a sectional warp beam, I am planning to have it perpetually set up to weave coverlets for the for see-able future.  I don't mind weaving multiple panels -- It just makes the joy of weaving last longer with a little less time on the set-up side. 

Warping and Starting a Loom Using the Sectional Warp Beam System [Vimeo video] by LeClerc Looms 

Since this is the first time I was winding the sectional beam with a spool rack /creel and the tension box, I wanted to review the process.  Lucky for me: LeClerc created this little video [above] as a reference.  Last time I did it, I did not have the spool rack, and ran the warp chains for each section on my vertical warping mill.  It took about 2 months to get it all done!  I'm hoping this more direct method will be quicker with fewer places to make mistakes.  

It took about 8 hours to wind on 29 sections; About 10 minutes per section, once I got the hang of it towards the end.  Much less time than running a separate warp chain for each section, and much less frustration that trying to wind on a 16-yard warp all at once!

I'll make a separate post about my DIY creel rack.  I want to make sure it works and doesn't need any modifications before I post it. [It worked out surprisingly well!  And easy enough to make.]

I bought the 10/2 cotton thread from Captain Yarn in Canada. 

 

I measured off a neon yellow guide string so that I knew how long to wind each section.  I have a fishing line counter, but I've heard those are not as accurate as you might expect them to be, and I didn't have the right size batteries to see if it worked -- Also, no way to attach it to the tension box.  The guide string worked very well attached to the ball'n winder at the top of the spool rack/creel.

The guide line winding on.    This section could have benefited from those nifty little metal guides that keep the line winding into the right section.  I only had 1 set which I used for the cotton.  I made a DIY cardboard set as shown above.  It worked but the metal ones would have worked better.  I'll have to purchase another set for this purpose.

  

Here are the metal ones that worked so well for the actual sections, along with the yellow guide wire at the end of the beam. 

 

  

Things worked pretty well, but there is always a learning curve when trying new things.

Although I wound on the first section correctly, I realized I'd wound on the next 4 sections in the wrong direction.  So I had to make myself a note to make sure I pushed the beam down as I was winding on.  I'll have to pull those 4 sections off and re-wind them in the correct direction.  Fortunately, they are already pre-measured, so it should not be too much trouble to run it through the tension box again.

 

 Special THANKS to my Dear Husband who helps with the additional tools I require for this weaving journey.  He built the sectional warp beam and modified the frame loom into a spool rack.