Question for my readers

[baronessekat]

Is anyone aware of a safe way to hang an antique quilt on a wall to display it WITHOUT causing damage?

I have inherited several antique quilts (close to 200 years old) that I would like to display on a rod or the like behind headboards in the bedrooms. But I can't think of a way to do so without causing damage.

I went to JoAnn's yesterday and I was told that the way to hang a quilt was to sew a rod pocket onto it for the curtain rod to slide through. I pointed out that wouldn't this cause damage to the fragile fabric and got "oh."

So I bring the question to my friends here.

Anyone got a clue?

Comments

[keastree.livejournal.com]

Define 'damage', because hanging them up will cause fatiue over time, anyway.

I recommend that you contact some colonial village someplace and get a recommendation from a specialist. I think that a lot of the ones I've seen are reproductions.

[baronessekat.livejournal.com]

mainly I don't want to be putting holes into them. One of the "helpful" ladies at JoAnn's suggested curtain hooks or clips with rings on them that snap through the fabirc so you can then run the rings on the rod.

These quilts are just too pretty not to have out and displayed but I don't want to add wear and tear to them by putting them on beds for use.

[quicktongue.livejournal.com]

Although expensive, you may wish to have it framed under glass.

[baronessekat.livejournal.com]

I had thought of that. Unfortunately the smallest of the three quilts is queen size framing them is WAY out of my price range.

[quicktongue.livejournal.com]

Totally fair.

How about a whole bunch of those pants hangers that are large clamps? Using many of them would reduce strees on the quilt. They could clamp to the quilt and hang from a rod.

[athersgeo.livejournal.com]

Asside from framing (which you've already said isn't really an option - and I have to admit, I sort of assumed it wouldn't be!), I'm not sure what other 'damageless' options there are. The suggestion about talking to a colonial house museum or somewhere like that's probably the best bet. Or, though it's a long shot, you could try a costume museum - though they probably don't display quilts, they do have some ideas on how to preserve fabrics.

[patrikia.livejournal.com]

If you don't want to hang them, consider two options.

1) Put them onto a bed, say, in a spare room.

2) Display them on a quilt rack. Some nice woodworker could probably bang one out for you in no time! (Do you know what I mean? Wooden racks that have two parrallel bars, a few inches apart? The quilt hangs over it?)

In the same vein, if you want to display them on a wall, put up a rod, hang the quilt over the rod and have only 1/2 or 2/3 showing. This would probably depend on the state of the quilt itself. Also consider that it might stabilize the quilt to have an additional muslin backing put onto it, with the channel for a rod for hanging.

There is a lady in the East Kingdom who is a laurel for quilting. I can shoot her a message and ask her opinion or have you contact her directly, if you like.

[baronessekat.livejournal.com]

The quilts are in remarkably good shape. Only a little bit of deterioration along a couple seams due to age and having actually been used as intented (the oldest of the quilts still has the muslin "beard guard" sewn over the one end).

I am leaning towards installing big decorative curtain rods and doing the laying the quilt over the rods way of displaying.

I know mom had at one point taken the quilts to the amherst colonial museum for appraisal. Maybe I can find time to go there on a Saturday and ask how to display them. Or call the Buffalo Historical Society.

But if you are willing, I would appreciate it if you can contact the EK laural and ask her advice.

[deadised.livejournal.com]

Find a museum with a "tapestry" or quilt collection and inquire for what they recommend. In the past, the most common way that I've seen for doing this outside of framing under glass is to "tack" a backing of cotton or non-acidic fibers to the back and then hang from that. This is how the "Star Spangled Banner" is preserved and hung. Of course, over time, the quilt will be subject to deterioration due to exposure (dust, air, light). And, of course, this does slightly break the "no holes" rule because you actually have to stitch the backing to the back of the quilt.

[tacut.livejournal.com]

There are a few ways I use. I mostly have silk bedspreads but the method works for anything.

I display just over half the quilt/bedspread at a time, rotate them so you get a more even fading/damage over time. By hanging them showing just over half at a time, I never have the crease in the same place.

What I do is grab a long wooden 1x2, paint it the same colour as the room walls, attach the 1x2 about 1-1 and 1/2 inches down from the ceiling, for a quilt, use a spacer that is just another of the 1x2 chunks at the end. Use LONG screws to go through both layers of 1x2, and into the wall. If it works with spacing, try to get at least one side into a stud, if no stud, use wall anchors. Now you have a bar that is the same colour as your wall to hang your quilt.

I know, you will say "But why not just use a curtain rod?" Good question, you can just use a curtain rod, but a 1x2 has several advantages:

It is thicker than a curtain rod and will not crease the quilts as easy or as sharp, preserving the quilt better. Sanding the top edges a bit rounder is easy to do and helps even more with this.

You can paint it to match the wall and it will not detract from your quilt, and will not clash if you hang a different quilt up

Stronger, it is stronger, period

Anyway, that is how I do it, lets you rotate things easy, display only half at a time to elements to let them last a bit longer and preserve them. The other advantage this method has is that it will not hang to close to the floor. The closer to the floor, the dirtier they will get...fact. Less accidental touching, paw prints, hooking on chairs/furniture, etc.

Any way you decide to go, it is really nice, and warms a room a lot to have tapestry style, cloth hangings.