Up on the Wall! Another obvious choice for displaying a quilt is on the wall—it is a piece of art, after all. A colorful quilt can also be the perfect stand-in for the headboard of a bed. Hanging options include specially designed quilt racks that attach to the wall, as well as using a piece of flat lath, a yardstick, a dowel, or a café curtain rod slipped through a special hanging sleeve on the back. Some avid collectors have devised interesting storage racks designed to hold many quilts at once. Since vintage quilts usually don't have a sleeve, you will need to add one to the top edge). To help a quilt hang smoother and straighter, you can add a sleeve to the bottom edge, too. Slip a dowel or rod inside to weight the bottom edge. If the quilt has an allover design (rather than a directional pattern), adding a hanging sleeve at both ends means you can turn it occasionally—a good idea to reduce strain on the fabric. Choose the wall carefully to avoid too much light. Interior hallways and alcoves are good choices, as are other walls that aren't in direct sunlight. A quilt can add a much needed bright spot to a dark wall or stairwell or to a room with high walls and ceilings. If you do hang quilts where there is light, you will want to change them often to avoid excessive exposure.   Photo by Brent Kane Where Else Can You Use a Quilt? Try draping or folding a quilt over the back of an antique chair or sofa, the arm of a wicker rocker, the handle of an antique baby buggy, or on your staircase banister or upstairs railing. These are all natural places to display a favorite. Just remember that these quilts will be touched—unless they are used in areas that don’t get much traffic. One way around excessive wear in these locales is to rotate quilts in your collection frequently. If you have quilts with seasonal themes, this is a natural strategy for displaying them—change the quilt for each holiday or new season so none of them are overexposed for long periods of time. The room will have a fresh look more often, too. You can also fold and hang a quilt over the open door of a cupboard or armoire. Make sure the wood is clean and free of dust—or carefully fold a piece of muslin or a sheet to hide under the quilt. The layers will protect the quilt from acids and finishes on the wood surface. A small quilt can find a home on the back wall of a bookcase among favorite books and other treasures. A ladder tucked in the corner of a room offers a more out-of-the-way spot to fold and hang a number of quilts—don’t forget a muslin liner under each one.