How to hang a quilt on the wall without a sleeve

When it comes to hanging up quilts – they are a wonderful addition to any home and a great place to use them to add interest and color is on your walls- hanging quilts can be a little confusing if it doesn’t have a sleeve.

No worries!

When it comes to hanging up quilts – they are a wonderful addition to any home and a great place to use them to add interest and color is on your walls- hanging quilts can be a little confusing if it doesn’t have a sleeve.

No worries! 

A quilt sleeve is not necessary when it comes to hanging large quilts, mini quilts, small quilts or really any size quilt.

The goal of hanging a quilt properly to have the front of the quilt lay flat and un wavery. The back of your quilt will be against the wall.

The top edge of your quilt is where we are going to hang and believe me, some of these quilts can be heavy – so taking in consideration the weight of the quilt is something to consider. This means that you don’t want to just stick something at each end in the corners to hang from. This will cause your quilt to tear under the weight. Heavy quilts require a little more support.

Before hanging your quilt, you will want to find a place in your living room or bedroom that is away from direct sunlight. Sun can bleach out the piece of fabric or your quilt blocks. Some react more to sun than others and to just not take a chance – make sure the quilt is away from direct sun.

You’ll also want to take special care that you don’t stretch the quilt across the top or even the long sides when hanging

Here are a couple of ways or methods for hanging quilts.

Method #1: Hanging a quilt with clamps

These wood clamps are small and depending on the size of the quilt you are hanging, you may need a few.

You can find the wood clamps here.

Quilt clamps are mounted onto your wall, evenly spaced out across your quilt’s top edge, and then pinched in place. Depending on the type, the clamp may be secured with springs (similar to a chip clip) or by tightening and loosening it manually with a screw. Both clips and clamps can be found in a variety of wood finishes, and more decorative metal options are also available in various shapes to fit your décor.

You can find quilt clamps for sale at your local craft store, or from a variety of online retailers such as Amazon, eBay, and Etsy. Depending on your preference, you can mount them to the wall using screws or Command Strips, for a less abrasive option. They make it very easy to rotate your quilt, allowing you to enjoy both sides.

One of the disadvantages to quilt clamps is that, to be effective, they need to be lined up in a perfectly straight line, which may be difficult to achieve for some. This is really a struggle for me, especially when I’m the one doing the measuring and screwing to install. I also find that these are a little tricky when it comes to actually hanging the quilt. Quilts again are heavy and the weight can pull out of the clamps if not supported – so find a few helpers when you are switching out or hanging your quilts. Also, the clamps are visible when hung, a fact that may be undesirable for those who only want to see their quilt. Most of them are wood, and pretty, but something to consider.

I will stick the long wooden quilt hangers in here as well. They aren’t the small clamps but a large wood clamp. I have had these and they are a bit tricky to get a heavy quilt to actually hang. You’ll need multiple people to help hold the weight of the quilt or it definitely pulls down and out of the hanger before you get the whole thing clamped. I found this frustrating and not my favorite method – but it is very pretty!

Method #2: Hanging a Quilt Thumb Tacks or Push pins

I have used this method quite a few times and really it does work well.

You can find push pins here.

It’s a great method if you are renting or not wanting to put anything on the walls that could cause damage. A pushpin or thumb tack does very limited damage to the wall. This is actually my preferred method because it’s quick and simple.

You’ll need a handful of pins and another helper. These pins are spaced on the top edge of the quilt and spaced evenly from the ceiling. I found using a piece of paper to check the spacing easy and quick.

Now, the pins do go through the fabric and yes they are thicker than a safety pin or needle from the machine, so if that makes you nervous then don’t do this method.

Also note that the heavier and larger the quilt, the more pins you will need to use. These can easily fall down when the weight is too much leaving you to do it all over again.

Method #3: Hanging a Quilt With Clothespins and Command Strips

I’ve seen this done a few times and it does really look nice.

You can find command hooks here.

This method involves using adhesive strips like command strips and then putting another piece of adhesive to the backside of the clothes pin. This method of display is great when you are switching out quilts for different holidays or themes in the house. They are simple to pop the quilt off and put a new quilt up.

This method for hanging a quilt on the wall is a DIY variation of using quilt clamps. It allows you to display your quilt using common household materials. All you’ll need are some wooden clothespins, Command Picture Hanging Strips (the narrow width), a level, rubbing alcohol, and your quilt.

The major benefit of using Command Strips, as opposed to other methods, is that you can easily readjust if you have difficulty making things exactly level. You can repeatedly move the second piece of the strip (the one that will attach the clothespin) up or down on your wall until everything is aligned properly.

1- Start by separating your strips and pressing the two corresponding pieces together until they click.

2- Remove the paper lining from one side of the Command Strip and stick it to one side of a clothespin. Press firmly for 30 seconds to ensure that adhesive has bonded to the pin.

3- Clean the wall where the quilt will be hung using rubbing alcohol. This will allow the Command Strip to properly bond to the surface.

4- Keep the two strips attached, remove the remaining liner from the other end of the strip, and press it firmly to the wall for at least 30 seconds.

5- Repeat the above steps for the rest of the clothespins, spacing them out evenly along the wall. A good rule of thumb is to place one at each end of your quilt and 1-2 in the center, depending on how big the quilt is.

6- Use your level as you go to make sure that the pins are completely straight, and adjust as needed.

Allow at least an hour for the Command Strips to cure, both on the wall and on the clothespins. If you hang up your quilt right away you risk it falling down, and may have to start completely over with applying the clothespins to the wall.

After an hour has passed, hang up your quilt and enjoy!

I have also used the command hooks but then used safety pins on the wrong side of the quilt. This has worked well with mini quilts.

You can find the tutorial here.

Method #3: Hanging a Quilt With Corner Pockets or triangle corners

This is a pretty common way and an easy way to hang a quilt. The idea is to hand sew corner triangles which is where the quilt hangs from a dowel rod. The rod is slipped into the pockets to keep the top of the quilt straight and nice and flat. You’ll need to pick up a wooden dowel the length of the quilt and then have the hardware store trim it down so it slips inside the triangle corners.

These can be sewn with the sewing machine if you add the hanging triangles prior to putting on the binding. This is a quite popular way to hang smaller quilts.

1- fold the square in half diagonally

2- iron

3- place in the corners at the TOP, BACK of the quilt

4- sew along two edges – use a scant quarter inch so the stitching doesn’t show

5- stitch your binding on as usual. This will cover the stitching of the corner pockets / hangers

6- Use a dowel rod or hanging rod in between each triangle to hang from

Method #4: Hanging a Quilt With a Drapery Rod

While this method takes a little bit of time up front to actually hang and secure the rod to the wall, this lasts a long time and is super simple to switch out the quilts when you’d like.

You can find the hooks here.

I know a few quilters who this is their favorite method.

You’ll need to measure your quilt and the design wall space to determine the size of the long curtain rod that you’ll need.

This is also a great way to display larger quilts as the rod is made to handle the weight and length across the top edges of the quilt.

These can be a lot of fun because you can get some fancy or decorative rod to add even more interest to the hanging quilt.

1- hang your drapery rod

2- use the drapery rings or clips from the rod to hang the quilt

3- slide the clips onto the rod (if you remove them to clip – otherwise hang with clips on the rod)

There is nothing else to this method. When you are wanting a new quilt, simply unclip and remove – then put up your next quilt.

Some fun additional tutorials just in case you are interested:

• How to hang a mini quilt
• How to make a quilt sleeve
• Sewing a quilt sleeve tutorial
• How to hang a quilt using corner pockets tutorial

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