How to hang a quilt on a wall
The kindest way to hang a quilt is from a sleeve: a fabric tube sewn across the back, with a rod or wooden slat through it, so the weight is spread along the whole top edge. A 60" wide quilt takes a sleeve cut 9" × 60" and a rod 59" long.
Most quilt shows ask for a 4" sleeve, which is what the sizes here make.
By Editorial Staff
Making and hanging the sleeve
Cut a strip 9" wide and as long as the quilt is wide. Hem each short end: fold it under ½" and ½" again and stitch. Then fold the strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and sew the long raw edges with a ¼" seam to make a tube. Press the seam open in the middle of one side.
Lay the tube on the back of the quilt just below the binding, seam side against the quilt, ending 1" in from each side. Hand stitch the top edge to the backing. Push the bottom edge up ½" before stitching it, so the tube has room for the rod without pulling on the front.
Hang the rod on two nails, screws or brackets in the wall, just inside the quilt's edges so nothing shows from the front. A wooden lath with a screw eye in each end works as well as a rod.
Sleeves for every quilt width
| Quilt width | Cut the sleeve | Strips 9" × WOF | Finished sleeve | Rod or slat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24" | 9" × 24" | 1 | 4" × 22" | 23" |
| 36" | 9" × 36" | 1 | 4" × 34" | 35" |
| 45" | 9" × 45" | 2 | 4" × 43" | 44" |
| 60" | 9" × 60" | 2 | 4" × 58" | 59" |
| 70" | 9" × 70" | 2 | 4" × 68" | 69" |
| 84" | 9" × 84" | 3 | 4" × 82" | 83" |
| 90" | 9" × 90" | 3 | 4" × 88" | 89" |
Strips longer than the width of the fabric are joined end to end first.
Keep hanging quilts out of direct sun, which fades them, and give them a rest every few months. For small quilts, a strip of hook-and-loop tape sewn to the sleeve and stapled to a slat works too.
Plan your next quilt in your own fabric
Quiltspiration draws any pattern in the fabric you own and works out the cut list for any size.