Sewing seeds and giggles: Building a Hanging Quilt rack

I really enjoy working with wood.

I have very few tools. You really don't need that many as long as they are working.

I really like the look of old quilts on old ladders. I also know what would happen on a daily basis if I displayed an old ladder in my living room. It would be stripped of its quilts and climbed continuously. I decided to make a hanging rack and take the temptation of climbing away.

A few lovely quilts that were created by my great grandmothers are in different stages of cleaning and mending. I look forward to the day they can all be displayed. I started creating this months ago so we have an easily accessed storage place in our living room to use them.

Materials Used:

9ft. piece of Alder wood (I cut pieces off for another use and this piece was used as a toy car ramp for my boys for awhile) I cut 2 pieces that are each 33" long. And one piece at 17 1/2".

2, 3/4" dowels that were 36" long ( I cut with my tree loppers) to 18" long for 4 pieces.

3/4" drill bit

6 screws at least 2" long.

Drill bit same size of screws to pre-drill on brace piece and in wall

wood glue

sandpaper

measuring tape or level

wood clamps

This is pretty easy to make but some Math needs to be done along the way. And as straight as cuts as possible. You can see in the finished pictures that my middle brace of wood did not have a straight cut. I wasn't bothered because when covered in quilts it will not show.

1. Cut all your pieces to your desired length. You could easily make this longer but it would need another brace to hold the weight of quilts.

2. Measure 3" down from top and make a pencil mark 1" in from front. This will be your first drill hole. Then continue 8" down and 1" in until you have 4 drill marks.

3. This is the trickiest part: You want to drill all of the holes the same depth (1/4") so when you put the piece together your dowels will be held in the holes and the side pieces will attach to the brace evenly.

If your side brace is 17 1/2" and your dowels are 18" wide you have 1/4" on each side for this.

The easiest way to measure is place a mark 1/4" up from the bottom of a dowel and put it in each hole to measure. Be careful and stop to measure before you make it too deep.

4. Sand all of your pieces well. Wipe with a damp cloth.

5. Drill two holes in each side piece and in brace so the brace is about 5" down from the top.

Attach one side piece to the middle brace with screws.

6. Apply wood glue to holes on one side. Place dowels. Then add glue to end of dowels and place other side piece on top. This is a bit tricky. When all are in place put wood clamps on to hold firm.

7. Place screws into other side piece into the middle brace.

8. Now make two marks in your back brace for hanging. Find the center and measure 8" to each side of that and make a mark. This is where you will drill a hole to mount the piece on the wall. They are measured 16" apart so that you can put each screw into a stud. (all studs should be 16" apart, if not adjust to your home).

9. Finish with Stain or Paint.

(At this point I hung it on the wall and waited. I was planning to paint. I was not sure if I wanted to stain or paint the wood. Months later we decided on the wall color with white trim. Therefore I painted the rack white to match the trim.)

10. Hang quilts and enjoy how easily they can be used and put away.