Monday, January 19, 2009

More than one way to hang a quilt

I make a sleeve (same idea as a rod pocket for a curtain) that measures 4" when flat. It starts out as an 8.5" strip, which is then sewn into a tube. I've decided that I prefer to hem the ends after the tube is sewn and turned right side out. The sleeve is sewn to the quilt back and left a bit shorter than the width on the ends. The bottom is sewn so that there is room for a rod or slat to be inserted in the sleeve while still allowing the front to be flat. I use wooden lattice from the lumberyard, cut slightly less than the width if the quilt. There are holes drilled in each end near the end, but not so close as to split the wood. The sawn and drilled parts need to be sanded.
I like to put the slat at the very top of the sleeve, and make a hanging apparatus from thumb tacks (not push pins) and heavy fishing line. I use a yardstick to find the center of the quilt, and stick the tacks through the sleeve and the wood only about 4" apart. For wery wode quilts, you might need several sets of tacks. Start at one end of the line of tacks and wrap the fishing line all the way around each tack from one end to the other and back. Make sure everything is as tight as possible. Tie a tight knot and trim any ends that want to pop up above the top. The quilt can be hung on a single nail unless it is very wide, and then it can be hung on two. I leave the tacks in the wood for quilt shows when I provide my own slat as it increases the chances of getting my wood returned to me.
Should have used flash for this pic. You can see the ends of the slat sticking out from the sides of the sleeve and also a pair of thumb tacks stuck into the wood. The leaves at the top are the front of the quilt where it was folded over. No cats were skinned to make this quilt, although Oslo is doing a good job of licking herself bald at the moment from flea allergy dermatitis.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is an AWESOME idea for hanging quilts in a gallery setting while keeping the sleeve for quilt shows! I will definitely kep this in mind for future use! Thanks for sharing. BTW, can't wait to see the FRONT of your tree piece!

Katy