So, you’ve picked up some textile art to that you want to display. Hooray! Hanging quilted art is actually incredibly easy, though your options will differ depending on the size and type of textile art you’re working with. Read on to learn how to hang 3 different types of quilted artworks:

1. Large Quilts

2. Mini-Quits and Wall Hangings

3. Album Covers (12” x 12” mounted textile compositions)

One quick note on my personal biases:

Look, we all have preferences, and I want to make mine loud and clear

I love textile art. Textiles, by their very nature, are tactile and approachable, and invite touch. Unlike an oil painting that hangs on a wall and shouldn’t be poked and prodded, textile art is wonderful in its tactility. Also, tiny details like stitching and seams can be obscured when placed in a traditional frame. For this reason, many of the options I provide here don’t involve glass or any kind of barrier.

large quilts

These big compositions are my absolute favorite. In my art practice, I’m frequently inspired by street art and graffiti, and I like to think of my quilts as murals… that you can move and keep with you!

Don’t let their size intimidate you. Large quilts are super easy to hang. I attach a hanging sleeve to the back of all my large art quilts, which gives you a number of options:

1. The Hang It Dang It. Don’t let it’s cheesy name and dated website turn you off: this is the best and easiest quilt hanging device I’ve ever used. It is essentially a super lightweight, adjustable rod that slips through the hanging sleeve on the backside of your quilt. There is a small clip that attaches to the device, which you then secure to the wall with a single nail or screw. They make three sizes, suitable for quilts 21” wide to 110” wide. This device will give you the look like the above photo, with the quilt seemingly floating on the wall.

2. Quilt Wall Hangers. These devices are available all over the place, and are essentially long wooden bars that screw into the wall, that clamp the quilt from its top side. The advantage of this method is that there are many different styles of this type of hanger, so you can choose one that suits your taste or sets off the quilt in a nice way. The downsides are that you have to ensure you’re purchasing the right size to hang your quilt (you’ll want it to be roughly the same size as the top edge of your quilt), and it’s going to be visible, which you may not want if you prefer a more streamlined look. If you’re into antiquing or thrifting, you can often find quilt hangers around, but they’re also available everywhere online. Here’s a small business I found that makes particularly beautiful ones.

Small quilts and wall hangings

Similar to my large quilts, I also attach a sleeve to the back of my smaller works. This gives you a couple options:

1. Hang it via a dowel. This is probably the easiest way to hang your mini quilt in a way that keeps it touchable. Similar to the large quilt hangers, these are available from sellers in all the usual places (Etsy, Amazon, etc) in a variety of styles.

2. Get DIY with it! If you don’t want to go out and purchase a special hanger for your mini quilt, as long as the top isn’t wider than 15” or so, you can use my DIY hack. All you need is a pencil, and a black bulldog clip. Simple insert the pencil through the hanging sleeve on the back of the quilt, then clamp the bulldog clip over the pencil from the outside, in the center, and attach to the wall via a nail or tack through the ends of the clamp. Voila! An invisible solution made with office supplies.

3. Frame it. Framing can lend an elegant look, but with textiles, make sure you bring it in to your local framer so they can do the job right. Textiles have special framing needs, and you’ll want to be sure none of the fibers are touching the glass, in order to prevent mold from growing on the textile. (This can happen in areas of high humidity). Also, if the textile art has delicate stitching or quilting, you’ll want to be sure to use the special glare-free glass that framers often provide.

album covers

1. Frame it! Okay, so these are a fairly unique-to-me offering, and these are also among the easiest textile artworks to display. Album covers are pieced textile compositions, which I then apply a special textile-safe mounting film, and adhere it to acid-free mat board. Unlike quilted artworks, you can pop these directly into a frame, since there’s no batting or quilting on top of the fabric to potentially touch the glass.

   Just like a vinyl album cover, these measure 12”x12”, and one option is to put them directly in a frame of that size. If you have the wall space, they also look wonderful with matting, whether simple off-white or in a complementary color. Many of the images I use on my site are shown with a 2” border of matting, framed in a 16” x 16” frame.

That’s it! Displaying your textile art is pretty easy-peasy, and it adds wonderful color and dimension to your space. Like all fine art, do be sure to keep your textile art out of direct sunlight, to prevent the fabric from fading over time.

Is there anything else you’d like to know about displaying textiles art in your home? Let me know in the comments below!