Quilted Wall Hangings to Make

Fabric Panels

• Most fabric manufacturers sell printed fabric panels in different bed and quilt sizes. These fabric panels are printed on 100 percent cotton just like you would use if you were piecing or appliqueing the quilt top by hand or machine. Fabric panels are offered for virtually any season, holiday or occasion. These fabric panels can be placed over low-loft batting of cotton, polyester or cotton-polyester blends and backed by cotton fabric. Just like quilting any project, you can hand quilt the fabric panel or use a sewing machine with a quilting function to quilt through the panel, batting and backing. Fabric panels are usually offered with coordinating fabric that can be used to create rod pockets or tab pockets through which to thread dowel rods or quilt hangers for hanging the finished wall hanging.

Pre-quilted Fabric Panels

• Pre-quilted fabric panels make creating a quilted wall hanging easy. Panel designs made to look like a pieced quilt top are printed onto cotton fabric just like a fabric panel, but the fabric is backed with batting and backing fabric (solid or coordinated prints) and machine quilted. If the quilter desires, she can simply finish the edges of the wall hanging and hang it. Tabs or rod pockets, cafe rings or push pins can be used to secure the finished pre-quilted fabric panel wall hanging to a dowel rod, quilt hanger, curtain rod or directly to the wall. Pre-quilted fabric panels are already backed with low-loft batting and are ideal for hanging on walls.

Simple Patchwork Quilt Wall Hangings

• Simple block patchwork quilts are ideal for making wall hangings. These quilts take minimal sewing skills and consist of rows of fabric blocks of identical size. A sewing machine with a basic straight stitch function or hand sewing is all that is required to join the quilt squares and rows. A small, quilted wall hanging requires about 3 to 4 yards of cotton fabric for the quilt blocks, hanging tabs and any borders, and between 2 to 3 yards of batting and cotton fabric for the backing (depending on the desired size of the wall hanging). Many quilt patterns designated as "baby quilts" offer the easiest designs and can be altered to match your chosen room decor by changing out the baby-oriented fabric for fabric in the prints and colors you desire. Quilting can be done by hand or by sewing machine. Another easy wall hanging is to simply hang a crib-size or twin-size quilt on the wall using push pins.

Finishing Quilted Wall Hanging Edges

• Quilted wall hangings can be finished like any size quilt. Tabs or rod pockets similar to those used on curtains are inserted into the top of the quilt layers before the edges are finished, or cafe rings or push pins can be used instead. Serger machines can finish the three layers of fabric and batting by enclosing the edges between tightly stitched thread. The backing fabric can be double folded so the raw fabric edge is exposed and laid over the edges of the quilt top. The folded backing fabric is then hand sewn or machine sewn using a straight or zigzag stitch over the quilt top. Double fold bias tape makes the easiest finish for a quilted wall hanging. Because the solid fabric bias tape is double folded, the quilter simply inserts the quilted layers of fabric and batting into the fold of the tape and pins. The quilter then sews through the bias tape edge and through the quilt wall hanging layers to affix the bias tape. Corners are typically mitered when folding edges over the quilt top, when cloth binding is used or when double fold bias tape is applied around the edges.