Design wall, just realize how important they are.
 

I am a novice quilter, I have made several rag quilts, a Quilt in a Day ATW (25 years ago, think 80's peach and green).

I am making a quilt for my mother's 80th birthday. I needed to be able to see it (controlled scrappy), but laying it on the bed was not working for me.

We have a wall in the basement that has a weird soft white paneling on it. I decided to pin the squares I had already made on the wall. It allowed me to really see what I had done. It also allowed me to see that I need to add some more colours to balance what I have so far.

I need to find a place for a full sized permanent design wall.

My birthday is next month, hmm maybe dh can help me make one.

I made a big mistake putting a quilt together before I had a design wall! Much better to have one and keep track of all the rows etc, and everything being in the right direction and order!!!!

I wish i had something better than what i have but it's working for now. My sewing area has a wall of shelving covered by 3 full sized flat sheet curtains. When i need to, i pin a fleece blanket to the curtains and then my blocks can be pinned to the fleece blanket. They don't fly all over because the fleece works just like a flannel design wall does.

I need to come up with a better way to do this eventually but for now it works.

I just added a giant design wall to a bedroom we have upstairs that wasn't being used. Love it, but I have to keep my step stool in there to reach the top. If we need the room later for a guest room, my design wall will become my art wall :). Don't know how I got along without one.

I have a plastic flannel backed picnic table cloth that gets thumbtacked to the wall when needed. I agree with the lady from Oregon "Much better to have one and keep track of all the rows etc, and everything being in the right direction and order!!!!"

I also made my first couple of quilts by laying the blocks out on a bed or floor thinking vertical, horizontal, it really didn't matter. After I got my wall up I was amazed at what a better overall view of the design you get. Much easier to arrange the blocks. In addition to making it easier to just keep the blocks in order.

I hang mine off the closet doors using pants hangers. The first time I put it up, my son (12 at the time) spent an hour rearranging the blocks for the quilt I was working on to try to get the best color balance.

Cheers, K

I have 3 portable. I use flannel backed tablecloths attached to pant/skirt hangers. I can hang them on my sewing room (formerly bedroom) window (6ft wide) curtain rod. I can also hang them in my hall on another curtain rod with small. would be happier to have a designated wall but right now that is not possible. When up on a wall much easier to get better perspective and catch mistakes before they become a pain to repair or fix. I like that I can also take my design wall with me.

I made a design wall this winter and love it-why did I wait so long,lol.I used 2 sheets of the solid insulation and covered them with flannel-love it

Every one needs a design wall - However- i was taught to also lay the quilt as it is to be used. - bed quilt on a bed, Wall hanging on a wall. the reason for this is that what looks good on a wall may not flow right/show pattern when laying flat. I speak from experience- I made a lovely 9 patch pazzaz quilt that looks great when on a wall but when laid flat on a bed you can not see the pattern at all.

Also you can use a flanel back table cloth as your design wall . I also put the table cloth on the bed/floor when laying out the top. then I just roll it up and take it to the sewing room and either hang it up or lay it on a table for sewing. This table cloth also works great to take to a class or on a retreat to carry your layed out project.

I just have a big piece of Warm and Natural thumbtacked up on the wall. Works fine.

Because of the configuration of my studio and the space I have a folding design wall. My studio has a daybed that I can pull out for guests. Of course when I have guests I have to put the sewing machine down and turn the capinet and a few other things. Therefore the need for something more flexible.

If you can always have the design wall up, then go for it. In my case it was first a hanging [an easily rolled up design wall] then a folding design wall.

I have the same! I used (2) 4 x 8 - 1/4" foam insulation boards (about $14) so it is 8 X 8. It is "attached" to the wall with mirror hangers. I live alone so it has pride of place in my living room. :o

I did this same thing. Got two foam boards from the home center, and put the flannel over it. Just use pins to tack the blocks on. Sure works well for me!

I totally agree. I have a small design space on a wall, but it is used to audition colors and fabrics. It seems weird to me to design something on a different plane from how it will be displayed. I use 2 twin beds mushed together with a narrow space between. That way, I can make adjustments from the center if needed. If I ever do a wall hanging, I'll want to design it on a wall, but not a bed quilt or throw.

hugs,
Charlotte

I actually do not have one wall in my house that would work as a design wall. I use my bed that has a white bedspread and I am not crazy about this as it kills my back bending over. Yesterday I laid my scrappy quilt out and then pinned numbers to all the rows. I have used flannel backed tablecloths but they don't work as good as they used too. I am thinking of sewing flannel to the tablecloths, that might work. Hope you find something that works for you.

I have an old flannel sheet thumb tacked to the guest room wall. It works great. I had been using the queen bed in that room, but invariably, the cats would get in and make a mess of the quilt blocks. It always looked like a tornado went through. I also love the wall because it's hard to layout any quilt larger than 60x80 on a queen bed.

I love my design wall but it seems no matter how big it is it is never quite big enough. You really need one bigger than the quilt because the seam allowances are still full on the pieces you are putting up which makes the unsewn quilt quite a bit bigger than the finished product.

I have a long shelf with nice big ends. I am thinking about putting roller blind hardware on the inside of the ends and then hanging a roller blind covered with glued on flannel for a design wall. It could be rolled up out of the way when not in use. Has anyone done this??

I didn't realize how much I needed a design wall until I tried to lay out a plus quilt on the floor.. The dog decided it was the ideal place to drop all his toys, and then ran off to get a chewy, he got tired of the chewy, and it was also an ideal place to take a nap.. Ughhh.. I still loved him after..

I agree the design wall sure beats the floor also. good luck making yours.

I have a Fons and Porter design wall that I got with my 40% of Joannes coupon. It was only 29.99 to start with and it works really well. Then I bought a second one and cut it in half and put the halves on some small wall spaces I have, it is an inexpensive and effective solution.

I am lucky that I have 3 large design walls make with insulation covered with washed flannel. I prefer the 1" insulation because if needed, I can push pins in. It is important to find what works best wherever we live.......

Good Luck with your birthday wish !!

I'm only 5' and I have to keep a step stool for everything! :) But, I do the same thing - I put a design "wall" over the sliding closet doors in the spare bedroom where my sewing machine is. I can easily take it down if I have company.

I made a basket quilt years and years ago, a king size quilt with basket blocks set on point, with sashing and although I didn't have a design wall per se, I did hang up a king size sheet and pinned the blocks on the sheet to figure out the placement of the blocks. It worked, but a design wall would have been much easier.

Last year I looked high & low for these so called table cloths with flannel backing, no luck. Then I remembered some flannel I bought at an Estate Sale (can you guess from all my post that I LOVE Estate Sales lol) I thumb tacked it to a wall & I am happy with it as is my 13yr grand daughter. But I am now making Queen size quilt that we laid the blocks onto my King sized that worked perfectly since the queen is smaller than my King bed. Just tonight her Momma came to get her as we were laying out the blocks and of course my daughter had to jump in with her opinions LOL me & grand daughter were just looking at each other & smiling...my daughter never got into sewing so she don't know about arranging the lay out of a quilt. I was fun though to have the 3 generations working & playing with my blocks.

Agree, it never seems big enough. I have a double design wall. I use two flannel back tablecloths, while it is huge, it is not big enough.i think I need taller ceilings! I would also like a bigger sewing room, in my dreams.

One of the most important things a design wall allows over a bed is the ability to step back and look. If you don't have a design wall, you can lay the quilt on a bed and look at it through the wrong side of a set of binoculars. That will make the quilt appear further away and you can see it as if you stepped away. Sometimes it helps to stand on a chair to do this if you have good balance.

No room for one. Can't use bed - back hurts. However, I have EQ5 and Photoshop. I can recreate the blocks and colors, then print them out. I like having a printed guide.