Design wall form?
 

For those of you who have a design wall. What did you use as a base to cover with the flannel?

I was thinking plywood but think that would be really heavy.

Thanks in advance.
red

I think a lot of people use the large sheets of insulation boards.

I used 1" foam insulation sheets. Lightweight, easy to cover, (2) 4' x 8' sheets gave me an 8' design wall. Covered with 3 yards 108" white flannel.

I bought some large pieces of foam board at Home Depot and covered it with flannel. This way you can put pins in it and arrange or re-arrange your blocks. The pins are easy to push in and hold your blocks

As all the above, I too, have the foam board covered with flannel. If that is not an option for you, try using batting. You can tack it to the wall with thumb stacks and it will work.

I use a large $3.00 clearance flannel backed tablecloth thumb tacked to the wall. It's been up for years and still works well. I suppose a person could use it over the foam boards as well, and it would cost much less than buying flannel or batting to cover the boards.

Cari

I used tentest and covered it with black fleece. Then mounted it permanently on the wall.

Agree ... important for your base to be pin-friendly, so I would nix the idea of plywood.
The intent is to not need pins on a design wall.
With the fleece I have put queen sized flimsies on the design wall, without pins.
However, if I am leaving it for any length of time, I will put a few across the top ... just in case!
I don't want to risk coming back and finding it on the floor!

Plus with the size of my design wall, I often pin to it patterns, notes, etc.
So pin-friendly is important IMHO!

You didn't mention size ... take note ... you can never have it too big,
nor have too many design walls! :)

Have fun planning your dream room!

I bought flannel backed plastic tablecloth material at JoAnns. It is wide and I was able to thumbtack it between two doorways in the hall on my 2nd floor. I put the tacks on the top of the molding above the door. There is some heftiness to it so it hold it's shape very well. It works for me and when I don't need it, I just take it down and fold it.

Mine is plywood.

An old projector screen. I hang the fabric over the top, but since it's not firmly attached, I have to pin to it otherwise things fall down.

The good part is I can easily take it down and put it away when I don't need it, as I have sloped ceiling and no wall to put it against.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psbmyuaww4.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psqgbjyorg.jpg

I used 2" thick insulation and covered it with W&N batting. Had flannel on my old design wall, and it just didn't hold my blocks well. W&N really grabs them. I used 2" thick insulation so that I could push pins all the way in and they didn't stick out from the design wall.

Foam board here too. It lightweight so I can move it from room to room (I have 2 rooms I use for sewing/quilting) and you can pin into it if you want to.

I was trying to figure out why people were using a "base" at all, then I realized y'all are pushing pins into it to hold your blocks up.

I tacked some W&N right onto my wall. I don't use pins at all, the W&N is very sticky and holds everything, even entire rows, without falling off. No base needed.

Totally agree .... with the fleece I can put large blocks on without them falling off.
Even have put a queen quilt on fully assembled.
Though I still like a few pins for security instead of ending up with a crumpled mess.
My FWS and PC were on the wall all throughout the llllllong process without pins.

My abandoned DJ blocks have all stayed put for well over a year!!
Though the pin-ability has been helpful, as I have continued to leave notes and candidate border pics for ideas when I get back to DJ. It WILL be a 2017 finish! :)






Another suggestion ..... use corroplast (corrugated plastic).
DJ got her own personal design wall using corroplast covered with white fleece.
I have mine permanently on the wall.
For someone with space issues, these could be slid very easily behind furniture when not in use.

Like Cari, I used the flannel backed tablecloths as well. I have no room to have a free-standing design wall so I just use the tablecloths (2 sewn together) hung from my shower curtain rod when I need it. Needless to say, I've gotten decent at visualizing things flat on my cutting table! But when I need a better visualization, I hang the tablecloths with pant/skirt hangers on the shower curtain rod and go from there.

I bought mine. It hangs on the wall with some nails through grommets at the top.

I don't have much room, so I bought two sheets of foam core board, like you would use for posters. Taped them together and covered them with flannel. It is light enough to hold onto the wall with string and a nail. It ended up being about 24" x 36". When I need a larger surface, I use a double bed (my sewing room doubles as a guest room).

I hung a flannel backed tablecloth.

I sheet of insulation works beautifully. You can push pins into it to hold blocks in place and it is light weight. I even use mine to layer and spray baste small quilts or projects. I inherited mine from my sister-in-law 12 years ago and it was not new then but it is still if fine condition and always has something hanging on it! Worth the investment. I do keep a clothes brush near by to give it a little brush down now and again to remove the little threads. Enjoy your new design wall.

I put a king sized flannel bed sheet on my old-fashioned quilt frame. Things were falling off so I used basting spray. Worked really well. Then I washed the sheet. The little threads did not come off. The basting spray held on tightly. Now I have a beautiful sheet with lots of little colorful threads all over it.

My husband helped me build one. It has a flannel covered insulation board on both sides and can be easily moved (the frame is on wheels) and I can slide both boards out and put them side by side when I'm doing a larger quilt.

Foam board insulation and the gridded flannel. Here's a picture. I just got my HandiQuilter and built it last night!

My 1st design wall and the one I'm still using this week is just a piece of batting tacked up to the wall which is wood behind it. I just ordered 1.5" foam board cut to size and will put them up with batting tacked over it. Will add a decorative trim around the edges to make it prettier looking. Got tired of not being able to stick pins into the batting.

LOL, me too except I don't tack to wall, don't have that much wall space. And when I needed a bigger one?? I sewed two together! Can't beat the price and I can fold it up and take with me if needed or just to put away.

The table cloth trick might be the ticket for my short term. Never ever thought of the foam insulation boards. That might work for the half wall for a small one....but oh Gosh I love the idea of the large one on wheels. Maybe that with the gridded flannel like sunshine's.

ksdot: how did your hubby put that together without the foam falling apart?

The frame is wood with slots to slide the foam in.

Went to Joann's and bought the washable felt in the wide size. It covers the 1" insulation sheets really well, I use regular straight pins in the back to hold it tight.

I also use the vinyl tablecloth method. I can hang it anywhere.

I hung a curtain rod over my closet door, then used batting after turning the edge over ( like a curtain) I can move it to the side if I need to, works great for me and my limited space

I bought thin lathe strips and nailed them along the ceiling. Then, I attached the fleece to the strips ceiling height. I tacked the bottom to the baseboard with tape. I covered the entire wall which was wide and long enough to hold a king-size quilt. I had space to pin notes to me, sample blocks, etc. I loved it.

My husband mounted mine on the wall using large sheets of that foam insulation that you can buy at Lowes. It comes in 4x8 sheets.. We used silver duct tape to tape it to the back.. I love mine it covers one whole wall in the basement.