So you have a few quilts stacked up, huh? And now they’re lurking precariously behind closet doors ready to assault you as soon as the door is opened… Yeah, that would be a personal confession about my life :) This is a current pic of my living room, these are all trunk show quilts...sigh. So, it’s time to do something about it! I did a little research and here’s what I found. If you, too, have a monster pile of quilts, maybe this will help.
Rolling quilts is a good way to keep them from being permanently creased. If you plan to store your quilts for a long period, this is an important thing to keep in mind. The longer they are folded, the harder those creases are to get out. I ask my local fabric store for their empty cardboard tubes, the ones the home decor fabric comes on. They work perfectly for rolling quilts because they are very sturdy and can hold quite a bit of weight. It would be a good idea to make a muslin “stocking” for the tubes before rolling the quilts onto them so the cardboard won’t leak acidity onto the fabric.
You could hang the tubes one after another in a closet the same way they do at the fabric store! Or, you could get a clever sling-like contraption, like this one, to make the best use of your closet space.
This quilt is rolled around a flexible foam water toy. This would be perfect for storing quilts rolled up and stacked in a closet.
How about hanging quilts on the wall?! What a novel idea :) One thing to remember about hanging quilts on display is they can fade if they are in direct or even indirect sunlight. This is no reason to leave them in the closet. Just be sure to swap them out from time to time so they don’t lose too much color over time.
Here is the quilt hanging rack I have in my sewing room. It works like a big clamp with a channel groove cut out that fits the binding just perfectly. I had it made many years ago. I wish I could find that guy again to make me another one.
Another easy way to hang quilts would be a curtain rod with clips like this. You wouldn’t have to add a sleeve to the back of all your quilts this way, although a sleeve would make the quilt hang very flat and straight, in most cases.
How about a quilt ladder? These are super cute, and they don’t take up much room. If you have a collection of quilts that match your decor or maybe you just want them to be on hand for cuddling on the couch, this is a great option.
Okay, okay, okay, if you absolutely must fold quilts and put them in the closet, I’ll show you the best way to do that ;) Folding quilts on the bias is the best way to avoid obvious crease lines, and once you shake them out they tend to lose any crease lines quicker than if you’d folded them the typical way.
Take one corner and fold it down like a napkin, then do the same with the opposite corner making it look like a burrito. If it’s a little too big, then one more fold lengthwise will narrow it down. Finally, I fold it in thirds to make it a stackable size. You won’t want to stack too many quilts on top of each other because the weight will crush the bottom one after a while, but you can rotate them from time to time and that helps. Or better yet, use them! A field trip to the bed or the couch would probably be fun :)
P.S. One last idea is to lay them out flat on a guest bed. I do not have a guest bed, or I would be doing this. You can stack them several quilts deep, and they will stay fresh and wrinkle-free for a very long time!
I hope this helps! Happy Sunday, everyone.
Krista
Follow all my quilty adventures on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Visit my website for free tutorials and tips. If you like my patterns, you can buy them on Etsy, and here on the website.
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