While you may not have direct design wall experience with that particular product, your use with your son is definitely close enough IMHO to know whether it might work or not for a design wall.

To me, one of the joys of a design wall is to NOT have to use pins ... so the headliner may work with pins, but would not be as easy or enjoyable to work with. And we all like easy, when it comes to quilting!

I'm currently using a flannel backed tablecloth from the cheapie $ store. I have to use pins for anything with seams.
I'm planning on getting the insulation board from the lumber yard and like the idea of using a flannel sheet to cover it. Although I may stick with my original plan of using fleece which I've found works better than my current tablecloth Will experiment with one of the sheets from my bed. Lol!

You don't have to wash it, but if you need to and it does fall apart - it is cheap. I just run a lint roller over mine to clear threads and dust bits. I find that pieces tend to stick without pins to the felt easier than the flannel. I use the flannel for a large board on my back wall and have a smaller felt board that I can move around and keep pieces in order.

I use two cheap flannel back tableclothes. Have worked well for 4 years. Getting full of threads so may need to change but only costs a few bucks!

Those of you who have never needed to wash the fabric on a design wall must not have cats! :p

When I had Warm n Natural batting on my wall years ago, I did have problems with blocks falling off it. I think it may be because my dh made the design wall flat against the wall. I have since thought that covering styrofoam from the hardware store would work better since I could prop that against the wall and the batting would then not be straight up-and-down; the slant would help keep the blocks in place. Ideally I would "box" the styrofoam with lightweight wooden strips which would extend beyond the styrofoam to create legs. This would lift the styrofoam off the floor so I wouldn't have to bend down as much (and also so the cats would not be brushing against it all the time!). I like the idea of having a moveable wall too.

I have a piece of batting I use for my design wall. Works great.

Felt immediately begins to form little balls and snags as soon as you wash it. Also if you have cats or dogs it won't last long. Only useful for cut and paste in my house.

How does felt feel the impact of pets faster than flannel or fleece, Madame kelly? I admit we have a cat who considers the design wall to be her own private climbing adventure space, but I rather think that felt is holding up to the weight of a cat's body suspended by claws into the fabric better than flannel would. She is most likely to attack the design wall if there are any flying geese blocks -- our theory is that in her primitive little brain the vaguely bird like shape triggers a hunting impulse.

This particular cat has a love/hate relationship with all things quilting related. I've witnessed her pulling every pin out of pin cushion with her teeth, laying them in a neat pile, and then taking off with the pin cushion as her latest prey. She also is prone to lick best press residue off of any surface that may have had some overspray. She's definitely weird and a bit of a menace.

I must tell you that I have a twenty pound cat that loves to "kill" anything made of polyester, and a huge dog that thinks he has to love on any fabric he can get his paws on, and until recently had a big hairy dog that shed poofs of hair everywhere. Flannel, they only want to sleep on, so if it is on the wall they ignore it. (Also I dislike anything sold as fabric that cannot be washed as needed.) Even silk can be cleaned and worn or used again. Sorry if I put my opinion badly. No offense intended.

I used felt, tacked it to a wooden dowel so I can roll it out of the way when not in use. After a year it was not longer sticky. Apparently it needs some static electricity to hold the cloth. I took it down wet it slightly in the sink, threw it in the dryer on delicate good as new.

I used a flannel sheet. It works great. And no seams.

i found the clothes brush also lifts the nap again on my felt design wall. i use a self cleaning velcro type brush that i got at hancocks a few years ago. i've tried gray, dark brown and now i'm using black. i like black best. it doesn't seem to lose lighter colored fabrics the way gray or white does. i also have used flannel as small portable way of working w my very smallest miniature quilts in progress. then i made a portable design board of heavy cardboard covered w piece of old mattress cover and then felt. i can hang it on a wall as i work or lean against something while i build my miniature quilt design before i start sewing. also, using the mattress pad behind the felt on the portable board, i can pin if desired now. as mentioned elsewhere on this thread, blocks with many seams don't cling as well to anything, and as my mini quilts grow, i can pin the body while i work on border designs etc.

I appreciate Love to Sew asking this question. You ladies have given me helpful ways to put up my design board. Thank you all for the information.
I have just moved my quilting room to the bigger bedroom in my mobile home. I am still trying to get it settled. I have been working on it in between sewing projects.

Thanks again.

hmmmmm ...no furry helpers? small ones that like to reach up and help move the blocks around, no bigger fuzzy luvs that like sweep blocks to floor with that big wagging brush on their butt? :D

my friend did her new wall (flood ruined old one) the way you describe. also extended "legs. to floor to deter her her little furry helpers. her framed design wall is beautiful even when not in use!

i love ​your cat!!!

using a brush to remove threads and pet hair will freshen the nap w/o need to take down and wet. mine is hung the same way yours is for same reason. down when not in use because i need the dining room back for dinner guests

Yes, sadly I have to admit I have not furry friends with me ... only vicariously!
I truly do miss having them around, but not in the cards for now!




Another simple design wall idea ..... when my big wall was not big enough, and I wanted a wall for my Dear Jane blocks, I made another.

Covered corrugated plastic with white fleece (my DJs are all white background with blues). I filled a wall space between a window and the sliding doors in my sewing room, so have a spot 5-1/2 'x8'. Careful if you have a plug ... I cut that section out, so I still have access. With the corrugated behind, you can still stab in pins, if/when needed.

For those who do not want it permanently mounted, the 4'x8' hangs easily with two picture hangers. You can then take it down and slide it behind a piece of furniture, under a bed, etc. when you want it out of site. Mine is now permanently mounted, but I tried it this way first, until I knew it was going to work.

I used flannel. I have 2 boards that are 4' x 8' that I sprayed adhesive on, then covered each with flannel. The boards have a groove in them so that they will push together, then I use "U" shaped long floral pins to keep them together when I'm working on a large quilt. Pushed together and pinned, I then have a board that's 8' x 16' so that I can pin larger quilt blocks onto. If I'm having an event or need to take the boards down for some reason, they are easier to store because they are separate.

I do wonder if the range of opinions/experience reflects differences in static electricity in our various homes and regions?

We have no static electricity. No carpet in the house (hardwood only) and we live in the rainy Pacific northwest. I often have windows open while quilting, so the thing most likely to dislodge blocks from my design wall is a slight breeze so I like having the option to stick a pin into the insulation board.

I can well imagine that in a very different setting and climate, different materials would perform better.

Well, I live in a very dry climate and I hadn't thought about it. But Flannel or Felt they are both on sale at Joanne's but the felt is 72" wide so I'm going to try it. Thank you all for your replies, I knew I could post and get lots of opinions and helpful advise.

i really don't think static electricity is part of the issue with sticking to wall. i lived in wet non staticy pacific northwest with felt design wall for 14 years. open deck door around corner thru door of sewing room. fil called our place "pnuemonia point" because the cold north pacific winds blew in off the ocean continuously. i now live in dry desert clime. static is so bad i have to be careful petting the kitties. no carpets. my felt (wall) curtain only dislodges blocks with the big fuzzy tail waggers' help :o