Saturday, October 27, 2012

Hang it up!

We have a split level home and the wall in the entry of the "split" stair area is a large blank canvas that is the perfect place to hang something large such as a quilt.  Rotating different quilts makes the space interesting but that means having lots of interesting quilts to hang there.  Not all quilts pass muster due to size and the location.  For instance, I made this particular quilt to hang in this location but failed to measure how long the wall was.  Oops!  The quilt was too long.....so it didn't make it up on "the wall". The last quilt hung there for over two years.  So, the wall has been bare for a few months because frankly I got tired of looking at the quilt that was there.

This weekend my husband recommended I get something back up on "the wall" and so I did a bit of rotating in the house and decided to put up a quilt that I made in 2008 at a mystery class.  The pattern is
Bear Tracks by Glad Creations and is 61" x 79". (Part of what you see at the top of the quilt is a ceiling fan blade and two cords hanging down.)


I thought I would show you how we have this hung up on the wall.  We used these hooks from IKEA...they are the  2 3/4" Blecka hooks.  Then we used 1/2" x 10ft galvanized conduit pipe from a home remodeling/hardware store.  (Yes, we have a popcorn ceiling.  We will probably hang onto it until it becomes in vogue again!)



We used three of the hooks. My husband shortened the middle hook that the bar rests on so that it doesn't push into the back of the quilt and cause a "bump" to show in the front when a quilt is hanging.  When I attach my sleeves on the back of the quilt I put on two instead of one leaving space in the middle; that way the hook in the middle doesn't interfere with the sleeve.


Initially we discussed painting the pipe and hooks the color of the wall; however, this is the narrowest quilt I have ever hung up there.  Usually very little of the pipe shows and it is rarely noticeable.  What does show doesn't bother us.


If I remember correctly the pattern for this quilt called for  24 different fabrics and I used 48 because I wanted it to be scrappier looking.  Also, I wanted the background fabric to be very low contrast.  I wanted the quilt to look somewhat vintage. 

Thanks for reading!

9 comments:

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

That is basically the same way I hang quilts on the living room wall - 2 strips and a hook in the middle - otherwise the weight of the quilt can tend to sag and get out of shape.
Nice quilt!

Dawn said...

Beautiful quilt on the wall! Thanks for showing how you did it. Nice have textiles/quilts you made always in view.

Maureen said...

Beautiful quilt! I love all the scrappy colors. Thanks for sharing how you hang it. Good solution.

Kathy P said...

Your quilt is gorgeous Judy! Love the soft colors - you definitely gave it the vintage feel you were looking for. And the Ikea hooks are a great solution - thanks for sharing the tip!

Barb said...

looks great - love that you doubled the scrappiness level!
great way to hang your quilt.

Diane Wild said...

I like your quilt hanger solution. I have a similar wall above my open stairway to the lower level but it requires an extension ladder balanced on one of the steps to put anything on it. The quilt I have on it now has been there for many years, hung when I was a bit more reckless. It will probably end up staying there if I leave this place.

Anonymous said...

Every time I read a clever post I can be sure Ikea is in there somewhere!! I think the closest one is in the Metro area! That is good looking hardware! Very nice quilt and looks great in that spot. Thanks for sharing the idea (I, too, split the hanging sleeve...really works out well!). Hugs, Doreen

AnnieO said...

Very clever hanging system--and a beautiful quilt. Love those bear paws and chain squares. Someday I'll have a nice big quilt to hang and will remember this!

Teresa Rawson said...

Wow! I love that quilt...and how nice to have such a prominent wall to feature it on. Our house is terribly short on wall space.

Thank you for the tip about the IKEA hooks...they are perfect! It gives me an excuse to go to IKEA, like I need one...

In stitches,
Teresa :o)