How to Make Old-Time Window Quilts

Insulate a drafty window with a handmade window quilt.

In the days before central heating, people would do what they could to insulate their homes and keep in what heat they managed to produce. Window quilts were a popular solution for insulation. These layered coverings kept drafts from coming in around imperfectly-sealed windows throughout the house. Make your own window quilts to insulate your home from drafts and save money on your heating bill every month.

Things You'll Need

• Fabric
• Measuring tape
• Scissors
• Quilt batting
• Pins
• Sewing machine
• Needle
• Quilting thread

Instructions

1. Measure the inside of the window opening. Add 4 inches in both directions. This will be the measurement to cut your fabrics.

2. Cut one piece of backing fabric, one piece of top fabric and one piece of batting all the same size as your measurement.

3. Lay out your top fabric onto a table with the right side up. Cover it with the backing fabric with the right side down. Cover that with the batting. Make sure that all three layers are even, with all four sides matching on each layer.

4. Pin the edges of all three layers together, all the way around. Use enough pins so that the layers won't shift. Sew along three sides and halfway down the fourth, using a 1/2-inch seam allowance.

5. Reach inside the opening that you left in the fourth side and grab the top of the quilt. Pull the quilt inside out through the opening. Reach up inside and push out the corners, making them as square as possible.

6. Fold the edges of the quilt opening together and stitch them together. This will completely sew the quilt closed.

7. Lay the closed quilt on the table and thread a large needle with quilting thread. Take one stitch about 6 inches down from the top and 6 inches in from the left side. Push the needle down through all three layers, leaving a thread tail of about 2 inches in front of the quilt. Push the needle back up through the layers to the front of the quilt again. Tie the tail end of the thread to the rest of the thread, and clip the threads loose, leaving a knot with loose ends showing on top of the quilt.

8. Make ties over the entire surface of the quilt, tying every 6 inches or so in every direction.

9. Cut a piece of backing fabric the width of your window and 4 inches long. Hem the two short ends with a 1/4-inch hem. Fold the piece in half the long way and pin the raw edges together. Sew along this edge using a 1/4-inch seam. Turn the piece inside out to create a fabric tube.

10. Pin the fabric tube to the top of the quilt back, about 1 inch down from the top edge. Pin the tube so that it lays flat against the quilt. Topstitch both the top and bottom edges of the tube to the back of the quilt to create a sleeve. Slip a curtain rod through this sleeve and hang your window quilt in front of a drafty window.

Tips & Warnings

• You can make a more decorative window quilt by piecing the top into a quilt design.

• Darker fabrics will make your room quite a bit darker, as the window quilt blocks out most natural light.

References

• Many Tracks Homesteading: Window Quilts
• Everything Sewing: How to Make a Tied Baby Quilt