How to Hang and Display a Quilt: Methods, Materials, and What to Avoid
The question I am most often asked is how to hang a quilt. Most important is to distribute the weight evenly and not create pressure points. Following are several suggestions to display a quilt with care.
This post expands on content from Miller's "How to Compare and Value American Quilts" by Stella Rubin, now out of print.
Using your quilt
Most quilts were made as functional objects. Many have survived more than 150 years and will continue to last if handled with a modicum of care and respect. When choosing a quilt, consider the use to which you plan to put it. Some are obviously much more durable than others. If you are planning to use your quilt on a child's bed, for instance, it might be best to select one from the early 20th century that is likely to withstand more washing and use than an earlier example. A quilt on a guest-room bed or hung on a wall will be handled less and could make you comfortable with an earlier and perhaps more fragile piece.
When using your quilt on a bed, be sure to use a sheet underneath it. This will minimize the effects of body oils on the fabrics. For the same reason, it is best, when the pattern allows for it, to rotate the direction of the quilt on the bed. The end toward the head inevitably gets the most wear from being tugged and pulled and has the most contact with the oils in your hands. Try not to share your bed with your pets when the quilt is on. Cats and dogs can do terrible damage to antique fabrics. Use care when tucking the quilt under the mattress, particularly on an old bed. Bedsprings have ruined many fine quilts.
A quilt also makes a wonderful decorative accent when used as a throw over a table or sofa. It can provide a splash of color and design even when not viewed entirely. Nothing provides a cozier cover when you are sitting on the sofa and need just a little bit of warmth. The wonderful tactile quality of a soft quilt, combined with beautiful fabrics, pattern, and color, is hard to surpass, regardless of how the quilt is being used.
Light, smoke, and other hazards
Whether displaying your quilt on a bed or a wall, care must be taken that it receives minimal exposure to light. Both natural and artificial light do irreversible damage to textiles. The less light the better. Ultraviolet (UV) filtering materials are available that are of some benefit in minimizing the effects of natural light. Keeping the shades or curtains drawn as much as possible is a wise precaution.
Fireplaces and wood stoves do not constitute a light hazard but give off barely perceptible amounts of smoke that build up over time and cause quilts to yellow. Cooking oils also take a long-term toll by depositing a film on fabrics. If your quilt is displayed near a kitchen or working fireplace, rotating it more frequently is a good precaution.
Alphabet Quilt: Circa 1890; Pennsylvania
Hanging methods
Method 1: The sleeve and rod (the gold standard)
The most widely used and most reliable method for hanging a quilt is to sew a fabric sleeve across the top of the back and slide a rod through it. The rod distributes the weight along the entire top edge, and the sleeve protects the quilt from direct contact with the rod itself.
How to make the sleeve: cut a strip of washed cotton muslin approximately 8–9 inches wide and 1 inch shorter than the width of your quilt. Fold it in half lengthwise and sew the long edge to create a tube. Hem both short ends. Hand-stitch the sleeve to the top back of the quilt — both the top and bottom edges of the sleeve — being careful to catch only the backing fabric, not the quilt top. The sleeve should sit just below the top edge of the quilt.
The rod can be a wooden dowel, a curtain rod, or a purpose-made quilt hanger. If using wood, it should be sealed or painted to prevent the wood's natural acids from damaging the fabric over time. The rod rests on two brackets mounted at the same height, which is how the weight transfers to the wall rather than to the quilt itself.
One refinement worth making: before hand-stitching the sleeve closed, stuff a thin rolled piece of batting along the bottom of the tube. This creates a small amount of extra depth in the sleeve, which causes the quilt to hang forward slightly at the top and lie flatter against the wall, reducing the shadow line along the top edge.
Method 2: Velcro
Velcro is a legitimate alternative, particularly for smaller and lighter quilts. The soft (loop) side is hand-stitched to a fabric strip that is then sewn to the back of the quilt along the top edge. The hook side of the Velcro is stapled or tacked to a wooden board mounted on the wall. When the quilt is pressed against the board, the Velcro holds it flat.
For a different aesthetic, Velcro can also be applied to all four sides of the quilt — top, bottom, and both sides — with a corresponding board mounted on the wall. This pulls the quilt taut and flat against the wall, creating a more graphic, frameless look that suits certain quilts and certain rooms particularly well. It's not inherently better or worse than hanging from the top edge alone — it's a matter of how you want the quilt to read in the space. A bold geometric Amish quilt, for instance, can look striking pulled completely flat, almost like a painting; a more delicate appliqué piece might look better with the gentle drape that comes from a rod sleeve.
A further variation: sew Velcro on all four sides even if you plan to hang the quilt from the top only. This allows you to rotate which side the quilt hangs from every few months — top one season, bottom the next — distributing the stress of hanging more evenly across the whole piece over time.
This method works well and is reversible. The important thing is to use only the soft Velcro side against the quilt fabric, never the hook side, which can snag and damage textile fibers.
Method 3: Glass or plexiglass box frames
Box frames are useful for smaller quilts and doll quilts, keeping dust away while allowing the piece to be displayed like a painting. If using a frame, it is essential that spacers be placed inside the case to prevent the glass or plexiglass from touching the fabric directly — that contact encourages the growth of mold and mildew. Allow for air circulation by using cotton across the back of the frame.
Displaying over a banister or rod
If you display your quilt draped over a banister or rod, be sure that the wood is sealed. For added protection, place a cotton sheet between the wood and the quilt.
What to avoid
Staples, nails, clips, pins, and tabs that penetrate or touch the fabric of the quilt are to be avoided, as they place strain on particular areas and may mark the fabric or damage fibers. In a short time, they lead to distortion of the quilt's shape.
Hanging from two points — two hooks, two nails, two rings — regardless of what's between them. The stress concentrates and the quilt will eventually sag and distort at the center.
How long can a quilt hang?
A quilt should not hang in the same position indefinitely. If you own more than one quilt, rotate which quilts are displayed every few months to give each one a rest. Ideally, a quilt should not be kept on continuous display. When you do take it down, refold it with different fold lines from before — this prevents permanent creasing along the same spots.
A note on crib quilts as wall hangings
Crib quilts — small quilts typically measuring 36 to 48 inches square — make particularly wonderful wall hangings, partly because their size fits well in domestic spaces and partly because the smaller scale means less weight to distribute. Many of the finest antique crib quilts were made with the same care and craftsmanship as full-size pieces. If you're looking for something to hang and aren't sure where to start, a crib quilt is worth considering.
The preceding suggestions are not meant to discourage buyers from using and enjoying their quilts. They are simply a reminder that quilts that have lasted through the decades were made with love and great care many years ago. They should be carefully and lovingly used, displayed, and appreciated today.
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