Dina

I have a design wall made from insulation board, like you would use when building a house. I covered it in batting, stuck on with duck tape. It just leans agains my closet and I move it when I am not using it. (Just in case that might help you.) I will take a picture and attach it....just in case. The board comes in 8 x 4 foot pieces, and I cut mine down to 6 x 4. (Ignore the blocks on the design wall. I have just decided they are just too light and will be scrapping them. There is pastel and then there is "just too light.")

As for selecting fabric, that is challenging, but when I did my first Bargello, folks here were very helpful. I took lots of pictures and just posted here often.

I made my first Bargello about a year and a half ago. I bought Eileen Wright's book, Twist and Turn Bargello Quilts. She has good advice about fabric selection and she has a really simplified set of instructions that go with a placemat, so a beginner can learn the process before tackling something bigger. I think her best advice was to buy/have/select more fabric choices than you need so you can narrow it down. I ended up with most being from my stash and then just buying a few shades I was missing.

I am addicted to Bargellos, so be aware that once you realize they aren't that hard, you might get addicted too.

Okay, I am attaching 3 pictures. The first is of my design wall, the second of the placemat I made to learn the Bargello process, and the third is my first Bargello. It is one of 13 patterns in Eileen Wright's book. (I know this is probably way more than you asked for...)

Dina