Large wall hanging - thoughts on backing fab
 

I am making a tie wall-hanging and it is going to be aprox 60" when done. I haven't made this large a wall hanging before with this much weight in the center. Do you think it needs a heavier backing or is a cotton quilting fabric OK? With quilting it may be OK but just wondered what others thoughts are. I don't want it to sag in the middle. I am attaching a picture of tentative layout. I am thinking a border or two and maybe a strip between center and triangles but haven't decided on those layout options yet.

What do you think heavier backing?

I've never made a wall hanging that big so I am just brainstorming with you. My suggestion would be to make a sleeve at the top and bottom of the wallhanging and insert dowel rods. If you secure both top and bottom to the wall, it might prevent it from sagging. I'm thinking this is going to be a wall hanging with significant weight to it due to using the ties, stabilizer behind the ties and then fusing them to your back ground fabric. Love your tentative lay out though!

I think there should not be a problem with weight. ties, along with interfacing and fusible are no heavier than cotton fabric handled the same way. I would use a muslin backing, but instead of regular batting, I would use thermolane (sp)..it is a thin fleece like batt used for padded clothing. It is made by pellon and I know JoAnn Fab sells it. I use that for tablerunners and placemats too. As long as you have a full width sleeve on the back there should be no sagging...the weight will be evenly distributed, but I would put a holder on the wall to hold that rod not only on the edges, but also one in the middle..........

It won't sag if it is hung from a full-width rod (metal drapery rod or closet pole size wood rod w/b best for that size quilt) in a full-width sleeve. Much larger quilts are hung frequently and they do not sag or distort as long as the weight is evenly distributed across the hanging mechinism...meaning don't use clips or hooks or any kind of spaced hanging system. A regular cotton backing fabric is fine.

Thanks for the input- that is kind of what i thought but wanted some reasurrance - especially where it is for someone else. I'm off and running will post a pic when i get it done. Thanks again

This is one of the only things I actually recommend a batting with a scrim in it for. You can use another layer of a poofier batting on top of the needle punched thru a scrim batting to give your quilting definition and the scrim batting definitely adds a layer of stability for quilts that are hung.