The large expanse of white wall in our guest room bored us terribly, and we didn’t have any idle artwork lying around that we could use to jazz it up. Then it dawned on us - we have a fantastic New England quilt, which was revealing only a smidgen of its beauty folded at the end of my bed. This colorful piece of art, found by our mom at a quintessential New Hampshire auction, could be displayed in all its glory! What a perfect match for the lonely white wall....
So, here's our recommendation: peek around for a funky blanket, quilt or other random textile and hang it up!
Here’s how we did it without impaling the object directly with nails.
We remembered some comforter clips that were stashed in our hardware supplies. We bought them a while ago at Bed Bath and Beyond – they’re designed to hold the 4 corners of a comforter to the inside of a duvet cover so the comforter doesn’t scrunch into a maddening ball. They are perfect for hanging something heavier because they have “teeth” to grip the textile without harming it. Peeling back the white foam that covers part of the clip, a metal loop was revealed, which we used to hang over the nails on the wall. Voila!
With the quilt spread out on the wall, now we can relish the patterns, stitching, colors and incredible amount of work that went into creating this piece of art. For those of you who missed the amazing Quilts of Gees Bend exhibit at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts a few years ago, check them out here for some divine inspiration.
- Kyle
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I love that look - It would make a great "headboard" too...
This is a really bad idea if this quilt has any value - it will pull the textile and make holes in it, plus possibly discolor it from the materials in the clip.
The best approach for a quilt like this, and many textiles, is to sew velcro to the back and then attach the other side of the velcro to a strip of wood, preferably one which has been painted with an archival paint and using an archival glue. Otherwise, outgassing from the glue, etc. could damage the textile.
If that is too much effort, do something that supports the textile more evenly across the top, so it won't sag/stretch. I don't know how heavy this is, but I often tiny rare earth (?) magnets on the front and those long stainless or white painted "bulletin boards" tacked to the wall so the magnets have something to grip.
That looks really stunning! And to ensure that it stays that way, I agree with the above poster. . .
You can also get Amish quilt hangers from some places. Some specialty quilting stores sell them, and you can also often find them at quilting festivals. I'll bet you can also find them on eBay. They are long wood strips with knobs all along the length of them that screw to tighten the strip of wood evenly along the length of the top of the quilt. They can be kind of expensive, but they look really nice.
I agree, it's beautiful but also NOT a good way to hang a quilt.
We have a vintage crazy quilt hanging above our bed (safer than something framed with glass!)
I sewed a casing along the back and ran a piece of copper pipe through the casing. Then I strung some aircraft cable through the pipe in a loop and hung the wire over picture rail hooks.
I worried a bit about damaging this quilt (it is pretty old, it has silk cigar bands sewn on it.) but someone used it for a dog blanket so I'm not too worried about saving it. I'd rather enjoy it on my wall!
That is a really beautiful quilt.
This will show my ignorance re: radiators, but is there any fire risk with textiles being that close to a radiator? I'm honestly wondering.
The casing along the back is the way quilts are displayed at quilt shows. It's very easy to just sew a fabric tube and sew it about 4 inches from the top, sliding a wooden dowel or tube through it to mount. The above clips method are a great way to ruin your quilt (and destroy any value it may have).
Alitris, if it's a forced steam radiator, it will discolor any fabric above it. I have curtains above my radiators and they are a mess because of this. Jeanine, please consider moving the quilt over or to a different wall. It will only take one winter will the heat on full blast to ruin it.
I agree with Taureg--you don't want something that'll bite your quilt.
My grandmother's quilts (about 5' x 6' each) are sandwiched along the top edge between a couple of strips of lathe--held together, and hung by, by some large binder clips from the office.
Be careful about using wood of any type - over time, the chemicals in it will discolor the textile. This is true for quilt holders unless they've been coated with an archival finish.
If you're going to use something like a copper roller for a quilt you value, cover it with unbleached cotton or linen that you've washed in pure soap and ironed - then hang the quilt over that.
There are of course quilt clips (eg: Hang-Ups) but I don't like the look of those. I think you could also use suspender or pacifier clips, which have plastic "teeth", if you can even call them that, so do not dig into the fabric at all. I am planning on using these or bulldog clips which have no teeth.
Examples:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16848035131&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Tape++Adhesives+++Fasteners-_-Boston-_-48035131
http://www.etsy.com/listing/63755865/50-round-suspender-clips-1-inch-brace