When BOTH sides of a piece warrant viewing, here’s one way to create a hanger – if you have used wool felt. The same treatment could be adapted to employ a rivet or a button for a more traditional, three-layer cloth quilt.
Who doesn’t love wool felt? Especially slightly THICK wool felt? I could use an awl to poke a hole, confident that the hole would not enlarge. This allowed me to create a simple, single crochet hanger, right into the quilt.
Waxed linen offers the nice benefit of being a cohesive thread… here, the snipped-off end can be twisted once or twice around existing strand and MASHED into pretty permanent place. No need for clear nail polish, or fray off, or to worry about unthreading.
Here, a little clock gear serves as a doorknob.
These stitched landscapes were appealing on the ‘wrong sides’, which is part of why I wanted a ‘side neutral’ hanger – so both sides can readily be viewed with a flick of the wrist.
When I stitched the grey one, a piece of fabric got caught in the threads and I decided to cover it with a moon and add a window, being conscious of where my hand stitches would land on the other side. Here are both the purple and grey felt postcards, with fronts and backs:
And the other:
So, when the ‘wrong side’ is worth showing, consider a hanging method that can flip from side to side.
One wedding commission that I made ended up sandwiched between two pieces of glass and hung where both sides could be seen. I don’t love putting fabric under glass, but I thought that was a great idea on their part.
Has anyone else found that they love the wrong side of their fiber creation? Or found another way to showcase both sides with a hanging method different from this?
I’m found of “wrong” sides myself, and I love your idea here, as well as these delightful images!
Thanks, ali….
Great idea! And I love that the back of the quilt gets some press, too, since it’s usually only the front that draws attention. But the backs can be so lovely and line-y. I like the hanging idea, the small size, the flexibility. This is another great one, Dee!
I made a very special quilt for a friend, and on the back of it, I attached a loving note. She had the quilt framed, but the framer left a window on the back so that the note is visible if anyone should lift the piece from the wall. I thought that was a very clever, caring framer.
Found my way over from Grace’s blog. I too am amazed at how much risk Grace takes in her sharing but am very grateful for the conversation and sharing that results.
Absolutely love your little stitched pieces. They are so vibrant and alive. And so clever that the fronts are as interesting as the backs. And I will remember your hanging solution with waxed linen. I do love that material.
I’ll be back to visit. 🙂
these are Great, I so like your houses Dee.
and yes I have a couple of wrong sides I really like, as you probably know by now; some were accidental others were intended. what I call my amulets are meant to be seen from both sides, so they’re hung from wire, strung with beads and feathers etc. and a fabric piece like ‘perhaps this is a place’ hangs from a woolen string tied around two sewn-on-vintage-buttons
Lisa – what a beautiful adaptation for a framed quilt with note-on-back! I’ll have to remember that one.
Hi Susan! yes, Grace’s blog continues to blow my mind virtually every single day! And also Yes to coming back!
Saskia, amulets are such a great idea… I have some smaller scraps that might adapt well to being worn around the neck… I’ll be back to your blog to see which one is ‘perhaps this is a place’.
I love these postcard quilts, what a great idea! Backs are always an interesting echo of a work I think, they hold the thought of the front without the weight, yet are so rarely seen.
I’ve nominated you for a Liebster award, I hope you’ll be happy to join in 🙂 To take part you must write 11 things about yourself and then nominate another 11 blogs which each have less than 200 followers. I don’t actually know how many followers you have, you might have 2,000, so hope you don’t mind!
All the best, Chloe x
mesmerized by the backs
thanks for looking, Grace and Chloe
and thanks really for the Liebster award, Chloe – I’m not sure how I’ll know how many followers other blogs have, but I’ll look.