Patent Publication Number: US-11643767-B2

Title: Quilt marking assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
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     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM. 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     The disclosure relates to marking devices and more particularly pertains to a new marking device for precisely marking a blanket for quilting or tying. The device includes a measuring tape for measuring distance and a plurality of pins that can be inserted into a quilting frame upon which a blanket is positioned. The device includes a roll of yarn that can be cut into a plurality of lengths that are stretched between respective pairs of the pins. The device includes a marker that can be employed to mark the blanket at each intersection point between the lengths of yarn. 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. 
     The prior art relates to marking devices including a sewing template that includes a pair of panels that each has a row of holes such that the holes are aligned with each other when the panels are stacked. The prior art discloses a variety of transparent quilting panels that has a grid printed thereon for facilitating a blanket to be marked for quilting. The prior art discloses a quilting template that has a plurality of holes arranged to form a grid for marking a blanket for quilting. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a measuring tape which has graduated indicia printed thereon to measure distance along a blanket when the measuring tape is stretched along the blanket. 
     A plurality of pins is provided and each of the pins is insertable into a quilting frame upon which the blanket is positioned to mark a preferred location on the blanket. The pins are positionable such that the pins are evenly spaced along a distance measured by the measuring tape. A roll of yarn is dividable into a plurality of lengths of the yarn. Each of the lengths of yarn is stretchable between a respective pair of pins to define a grid on the blanket. A marker is provided to mark the blanket at each of a plurality of intersections of the grid defined by the lengths of yarn for quilting the blanket. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of a quilt marking assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  2    is a front in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing a measuring tape measuring a distance along a blanket. 
         FIG.  3    is a front in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing pins having been inserted into a quilting frame at predetermined locations. 
         FIG.  4    is a front in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing lengths of yarn being stretched between respective pairs of pins. 
         FIG.  5    is a front in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing a blanket having been marked at a variety of locations for quilting. 
         FIG.  6    is a schematic view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS.  1  through  6    thereof, a new marking device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS.  1  through  6   , the quilt marking assembly  10  generally comprises a measuring tape  12  that has graduated indicia  14  printed thereon to measure distance along a blanket  16  when the measuring tape  12  is stretched along the blanket  16 . The measuring tape  12  may be a sewing tape or other type of soft tape measure that is commonly employed in tailoring or sewing. A plurality of pins  18  is provided and each of the pins  18  is insertable into a quilting frame  20  upon which the blanket  16  is positioned to mark a preferred location on the blanket  16 . The pins  18  are positionable such that the pins  18  are evenly spaced along a distance measured by the measuring tape  12  such that the plurality of pins  18  is evenly distributed around the blanket  16 . The quilting frame  20  may be a quilting frame of any conventional size or design that is commonly employed for quilting or tying blankets. 
     Each of the pins  18  has a first end  22  and a second end  24 , and the first end  22  tapers to a point. The second end  24  is rounded into a ball such that the ball can be pushed against to urge the first end  22  into the quilting frame  20 . Each of the pins  18  is positionable at predetermined locations along the quilting frame  20  such that the pins  18  are spaced apart from each other and are distributed around the quilting frame  20 . Furthermore, each of the pins  18  may comprise sewing pins or other similar type of stick pins. 
     A roll of yarn  26  is provided and the yarn  26  is dividable into a plurality of lengths  28  of the yarn  26 . Each of the lengths of yarn  28  is stretchable between a respective pair of pins  18  when the plurality of pins  18  is distributed around the blanket  16 . In this way each of the lengths of yarn  28  defines a grid on the blanket  16 . The lengths of yarn  28  include a set of horizontal lengths  30  and a set of vertical lengths  32 . Each of the horizontal lengths  30  is stretched between respective pairs of the pins  18  that are distributed on a vertical axis on the blanket  16 . Conversely, each of the vertical lengths  32  is stretched between respective pairs of pins  18  that are distributed on a horizontal axis on the blanket  16 . Each of the horizontal lengths  30  intersects with each of the vertical lengths  32  at a plurality of intersection points  34 . 
     A marker  36  is provided that is filled with a liquid ink  38  to deposit the liquid ink  38  at predetermined locations on the blanket  16  for marking the blanket  16 . The marker  36  is positionable to mark the blanket  16  at each of a plurality of intersections of the grid defined by the lengths of yarn  28 . In this way the marker  36  can mark locations for quilting the blanket  16 . The marker  36  is positionable to mark the blanket  16  at each of the intersection points  34  between the horizontal lengths  30  and the vertical lengths  32 . 
     Additionally, the marker  36  may be a felt tip pen, a sewing marker or any other type of ink marker that can mark on textiles or fabric with a minimal amount of bleeding. Conversely, respective pins  18  can be inserted through the blanket  16  to mark the blanket  16  at each of the intersection points  34  in lieu of the marker  36 . 
     In use, the blanket  16  is secured on the quilting frame  20  and the distance between adjacent corners of the quilting frame  20  is measured, and continually divided in half, until the plurality of pins  18  is evenly spaced apart from each other and distributed along each of the members of the quilting frame  20 . The roll of yarn  26  is cut into the horizontal lengths  30  and the vertical lengths  32 . Each of the horizontal lengths  30  is stretched between respective pairs of pins  18  that are distributed along a vertical axis. Each of the vertical lengths  32  is stretched between respective pairs of pins  18  that are distributed along a horizontal axis. The marker  36  is employed to mark the blanket  16  at each of the intersection points  34  between the horizontal lengths  30  and the vertical lengths  32 . In this way the blanket  16  can be precisely marked for quilting or tying the blanket  16 . 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. 
     A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.