Patricia--

What you describe is a very good solution.  Your mounts can be covered
with washed, unbleached muslin to create friction and to further
insulate the quilt from the mount materials.  The problem with quilts is
that you can support one side more than adequately, but because of the
multiple layers, the other side may still succomb to gravity.  The
greater the angle from the wall, the more over all support (of course,
the greater the angle, the more gallery space it takes).  Keep an eye on
the tops of the quilts, keep them dust free and check to be sure that
they are not pulling on the top layer more than the bottom.  Avoid
exhibiting the most fragile silks until you can provide a covered mount.
Also, make sure you have a 3-4 foot barrier of some kind between the
display and the visitors--people love to touch textiles, and you don't
want them to!

Pat Roath
Historic Costume Care
[log in to unmask]
Patricia McElyea wrote:
>
> Museum-l'ers,
>
>         I am pretty sure that this has been asked on this list in the past.
> However, repetition unto success....  Our institution has a number of
> quilts that we would like to display on a temporary basis.  At some
> point in the past, the museum attached muslin sleeves to the back so
> that the quilts could be hung.  My problem is that the very quilts
> that our Exhibits Curator would be most interested in are also the
> most delicate (silk fabric, brittleness, odd bits like photos sewn
> in).  I am hesitant to hang them by these sleeves.  My thought is
> that gravity itself will do damage to the brittle, delicate fabrics.
> We are looking for an alternative method of displaying these items
> that won't break the budget.  Our thought has been to build sealed
> plywood supports that would not only be equal to the surface area of
> the quilt, but that would also come out from the wall at a 22 degree
> angle (so the quilts are hanging straight down).  This support would
> then be covered with ethafoam.  Does this sound like a workable
> plan??  Are there any other suggestions??  What have other people
> done??
>
> Patricia McElyea                                 Unless the heart sees
> Curator of Collections                           The mind will never see.
> Arkansas State
>    University Museum                                      --Maori proverb
> [log in to unmask]