How to make a Compression Quilt Hanger for under $20!

I’ve completed two quilted wall hangings over the past several months, and I have a huge Fifty State quilt that I eventually would like to hang when it is complete.  Personally, I’m not a fan of sewing a sleeve into the back of the quilt and hanging it from a rod.  I feel that it pushes the quilt too far out from the wall.

And I really don’t want to go the extra step of adding a sleeve.  So what to do?  Well, I love compression quilt hangers.

They consist of basically two bars of wood screwed together, sandwiching in the top of the quilt.  Unfortunately, if you are wanting to purchase one, they are not the cheapest things to buy.  For the 50″ one that I need for my smaller wall quilts, I’m looking at $70 plus shipping.  I can’t even imagine how much it will cost to hang my Fifty State quilt.  It measures 8 feet across!

But the husband was more than willing to help out here.  He created one for me for under $20 that is not only beautiful, but easy to make.

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For this project we used:

(1 ea.) 1″ x 2″ x 50″ piece of pine
(1 ea.) 2″ wide x 50″ long piece of decorative wood trim
4 wooden drawer pulls (came with 4 wood screws)
Drill with bit that is width of wood screws
Counter Sink bit for the drill
Miter Box and Saw
Minwax Express Color Walnut Stain
Clear Varnish
2 large metal picture hangers

We found the wood at our local Home Depot store.  There was much to choose from in decorative trim.  You can make this as simple or as fancy as you like!  Most home stores will cut the wood there for you if you like, or you can take it home and cut it like we did.

First we measured the top of the quilt- 48″ and then added an inch on each side for a total of 50″.

Cut the 1″ x 2″ wood and the decorative wood the same length.  We used a mitre saw for this, but any saw will do.  We cut them each 50″ long and then sanded them.

Then clamped both pieces of wood together and measured out where to drill the holes for the four drawer pulls.  They will be spaced evenly and as you can see from the photo, you want them a little higher than center of the wood.  Drill your holes all the way through both pieces of wood.

Use your counter sink drill bit on the back of the 1″ x 2″ piece of wood, widening the holes that you previously drilled.

Click here for the next steps!