Quilt Calendar

You may remember me talking about the Quilt Calendar debut at the National Stationery Show back in May. Well, it's here! The 2013 Quilt Calendar is now available in our shop! 

After working on a small letterpress calendar for years, I was eager to work on a larger scale, and the quilt patterns I've admired & loved for so long seemed like a great fit for the size. While I wanted this calendar to be big & fabulous (lots of bright inks!) while hanging, I also wanted the artwork to be saved/framed/gifted after the month had passed. So each month features a 19" x 19" quilt print that is designed to be trimmed & fit into a 20" x 20" frame (thank you, Ikea Ribba frame!) or larger. 

 

A calendar this big took a big effort to complete. It measures 26" x 40" & is entirely hand screenprinted - a feat for one print at this size, let alone 13. The paper is 100% recycled cover weight stock (a nice sturdy weight for preserving & handling your prints) and hung by custom made oak bars, fastened with brass wingnuts. A keyhole slot in back allows for easy hanging on one nail or screw - an important piece  that was not so simple to figure out. (I really dislike the double nail hanging requirement - the measuring, the leveling - not for me.) 

 

It was the hanging device that took the longest to figure out - and the whole process depended on it. The months couldn't be printed without knowing exactly how these would hang. I owe a lot of thanks to a certain woodworker friend for sitting with me for hours sketching out possible options - which ranged from simple bull dog clips (but then where do you store the rest of the months - under the bed?) to an oversized coat hanger (took up too much room at the top - and it's already pretty big). The result holds the weight (nearly 10lbs), mounts flush to the wall (paper hangs perfectly parallel to wall - no awkward leaning), and allows for easy changing of the months (unscrew the wingnuts while on the wall to take off the top bar & then the month).

 

Above: September (the wedding quilt pattern), shown here trimmed & framed in an Ikea Ribba frame.

 

Above, a close up shot of the oak hanger & brass wingnuts.

Above, reverse side of hanger: recessed screw & keyhole slot allow hanger to mount flush on the wall.

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Top two photos by the super sweet & talented Karen Mordechai