Home and Decor » Wall Art

~ Hanging Amish Quilts as Tapestries in Your Home ~ (pt 2)

admin — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:34:00 +0000

Where and How to Hang Your Wall Art – Part 2

Just like Amish furniture your Amish quilt is meant to be an heirloom that lasts generations if properly cared for. In order to ensure the value of your tapestry quilt will be maintained there are a few simple tips. Select a focal point in your home, perhaps above an Amish crafted couch or buffet. An Amish quilt hung on a wall makes an excellent and colorful headboard choice. Remember, select a spot that will not receive too much sunlight, in order to prevent fading.

No Amish textile should ever be hung with rings because of the weight being unevenly distributed. Much like an old shower curtain, rings can cause sags, creases and tears. Carpet tack strips should never be used because the very sharp edges cut the fibers and eventually rust. Adhesives should never be used when mounting textiles because of future conservation issues with the glue. Metal rods or any metal coming in contact with your Amish quilt should be sealed to prevent rusting. Wood bases or strips should also be painted if they are to touch the textile because of acid deterioration when touching the fabric. Everything touching the textile should be made of acid-free materials.

A very cost effective and simple display option, if you are handy with a needle and thread, is to stitch on casings. These casings made of heavy cotton, linen, or even cotton twill rug binding can be hand sewn across the top of the back and a metal rod slightly shorter than the width of the Amish quilt can then be inserted in the casing. You can hang from two slightly angled nails or two screws in the wall or alternately, the quilt can be suspended from the ceiling via its rod hanging from above with monofilaments. Favored by many museum conservators, a strip of Velcro is hand-sewn to the top back of the textile and the fabric is simply pressed into place. Stitching will not damage and in fact, by distributing the weight evenly across the width of the piece, the casing-and-rod or Velcro methods are the gentlest ways of hanging a quilt. Rigid mountings can be accomplished by mounting on stretchers and even framed. For smaller pieces fabric-covered archival quality foam core board makes an excellent base for your Amish lap quilt or baby quilt.

Now that you have it prepared for hanging it is important to know how to hang. Finding the studs is important for support, especially with heavy quilts. If you are suspending from monofilament, find the ceiling supports. Your tapestry should be a small distance from the wall to help prevent mildew from building up on your wall hanging. Summers humidity, even in air conditioning, can cause mold and weaken fibers, so use preventative measures with quilts just as you would to protect your Amish hardwood furniture.

More Inexpensive Wall Art Ideas

admin — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:07:36 +0000

Creating your own wall art is a great way to give your home a unique style by incorporating your own personality, taste, and flair. You don’t need to rely on what is only available at the store because with a little creativity you can create great wall art pieces out of just about anything.

Bring the outdoors in by creating a unique piece of wall art using the branches you find in your own backyard. Gather together some long, interesting looking tree branches that have already fallen to the ground. Get some regular spray paint in whatever color you choose and paint the branches all one color or mix together a variety of colors or different shades. Metallic colors, such as silver or gold, work particularly well with this project. Attach the branches together using similarly colored craft wire and hang on the wall with nails. One or more groupings of different branches look great over the bed or any sofa.

Incorporating your own unique art in the kitchen is a great way to express your creativity. Look for interesting placemats at any kitchen or décor store and instead of placing them on the table hang them on the walls. Create your own art piece by hanging different placemats of similar colors or styles in groups of three or six. You can just use regular thumb tacks to hang your placemats and even change them out with the seasons if you like.

Hanging groups of clocks together make a very bold and interesting statement in an office, entertainment room, or over the fireplace. Purchase inexpensive clocks of similar styles or colors and hang them together in a horizontal line or a square pattern. You can also paint identical clock frames different colors if you like for an eye-catching look. You might also want to place little signs beneath each clock with different city names from around the world and set each clock to that particular time zone.

Creating Wall Art With Canvas

admin — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:04:37 +0000

Professionally framed wall art and posters can be quite pricey, but this is no excuse for having bare walls because you can easily make your own fun, unique, and eye-catching wall art with the use of inexpensive canvas and a little creativity.

If you’re the artistic type, you can paint your own wall art by purchasing stretched canvas and creating your own works of art. Inexpensive stretched canvas forms come ready to use and can be purchased at any arts or crafts store. Using inexpensive acrylic paints you can create your own art using whatever style you like. Look at art books with simple designs and copy the style or purchase stencils and foam stamps to make your own unique design. Make sure you purchase canvas forms that are stapled on the back rather than the sides for a professional look.

If you’re not the artistic type, you can still create unique art pieces using fabric. Go to any fabric store and search for some unique or interesting fabric pieces that would go well with your room. Using the same stretched canvas form, cover the form with the fabric and staple it on all four sides to the back side. Make sure the fabric is pulled tight across the form and fold the corners envelope-like as smoothly as possible to give it a finished look. Canvas forms come in a wide variety of sizes and will look great over the bed, above a sideboard, or behind the sofa.

You can also use flat canvas panels as an alternative to expensive frames for your black-and-white photos. Flat canvas panels are very inexpensive and usually come in small, multi-packs. Take some 5×7 canvas panels and paint them a nice solid color, like black, red, or silver and let dry. Using spray adhesive attach your 4×6 photos to the center of the canvas panels and simply hang on the wall in groups. These look great in the foyer, down a hallway, or up the staircase.