design wall
 

I have seen the design walls that look like a pull-down projector screen with flannel covering. The ones I have seen have a wooden shelf-looking thing at the top and the design wall when not is use is hidden inside the box unit. Does anyone have one of these and do you like it? How flimsy is the screen itself. Do the blocks adhere well to the flannel? Sorry, lots of questions but I would like my husband to build one for me and not sure how well it works. Thanks for your input.

Great question I am curious too. My design wall is the spare bed it "works" but I would love something I can step back from and get better perspective of my growing idea.

This is a nice one. Well made and industrial roller. I don't have it, but it appears that way on line.
http://www.design-a-way.com/

I can't help with the design wall you are asking about, but I made a "portable" one out of insulation board from somewhere like Home Depot that might interest you. I covered it with Warm and Natural and duck taped it on. Mine is 48 inches wide by 70 inches tall. I cut about two feet off of the top when I got it, but I sort of wish I had left that part on...in hindsight.

But this works fine for me. When I am not using it...which is rare, as it turns out... it can hide behind my door, sort of. I am going to take a picture, but I am too lazy to move the bags off of my doorknob, so it won't look like it hides too well in the picture.

Just info for you to think about, in case it might work for you. It didn't cost too much, fabric sticks well to it, and I can even pin a whole quilt top (okay, sometimes it sticks off) on if I want. I am really happy with my design wall. Normally it just leans agains my closet doors, but I can move it easily if I want in the closet.

Okay, off to take pictures. I have a small but cozy sewing room, so ignore all the extra stuff in the pictures. :)

Dina

Dina, I like your design board.

Thanks, it works really well for me.

Not sure how well Duck tape will last. I took small safety pins and took a thin jute string and wove it back and forth thru the safety pins. It is snug as a bug on a rug, But if I need to wash it, I can take it off the insulation board. I find that flannel is easier to keep clean of odds and ends of lint and threads off the design wall with a sticky roller.

I hope to be able to cover the back with some fabric eventually. The 1" insulation is great because you can use straight pins.

I haven't upgraded yet. I still use my floor or a bed to lay out my pieces.

I like this alot. Seems quite simple to do. Thx for sharing

thanks for this great tip!

I agree that I am not sure how long the duck tape will last, but so far it has been three years. Flannel would work well too, I am sure. I just leave the threads on and don't try to clean them off though. A friend told me that her granddaughter vacuumed the threads off, trying to be helpful, and stuff never stuck the same afterwards. :) So I just leave mine on.

Dina

I have even used both sides of mine if I have a couple of projects going. Just used flannel on the reverse side temporarily.

I got the largest artist canvas board that was on sale at Michaels. Covered it with flannel and hung on the wall. Works great.

Going to Home Depot today to pick up a foam board. Great idea! Thanks for sharing.

I did similar with the insulation board. I bought 2 pieces of 4' x 8' then used duct tape to make a hinge so that I only have 1 side exposed til I need it folded out. I did use regular spray adhesive to keep the batting [what I used instead of felt or flannel, because I had a lot] on the insulation. A friend came over and helped me with this.

Another friend helped me make a g rid using ribbon so that the larger open design wall in now in 12" grids with diagonal markings from the corners.

I don't know how long I've had mine, but it has been years now.

I did make a vinyl cover for the bottom of the wall so that it wouldn't get dirty near the floor. I slide the folded wall over a built in desk area where I keep my serger, so now the serger is artifully hidden from view.

AliKat, your design wall sounds great. I really like the grid idea. May have to add to mine. :)

Dina

Great ideas. Thanks.

I do have the design wall you inquired about. It works very well, blocks stick to it . The screen is actually sturdy,the
only problem I see is lots of threads stick to it. Mine was originally hung too high(over a door) and now have it moved
lower so I can reach the top without using a stool.

I am just considering this retractable design wall. The owner told me to use a lint roller to get stray threads and bring up the flannel nap, do you find this helpful?

My hubby made mine out of a roll up blind, you know the cheap ones that look like bamboo. 6 feet across, six long. Covered with flannel It hangs off a horizontal beam in my sewing room. I just roll it up when not in use. I have no wall space as there are shelves on all the wall.

hew thats your woman cave don't worry about what people think CAN you sew neatly

A pretty good portable design wall and be made by hanging a cheap flannel backed plastic tablecloth on a wall or over a door. It can be put away when not in use and doesn't take a lot of space to store. Some of them have better flannel backs than others so it's good to inspect before you buy.

I have the design wall with the shelf at the top that you refer to. I love it. Not flimsy and the blocks adhere well to the flannel. I like it because it can be easily retracted and out of the way if necessary--although mine is always in use for something. I think it could be easily made, I just got tired of waiting for my husband to make it so I bought it instead!

"Design-a-way" is basically a pull-down shade for $180....I took that idea and went to JC Penney, found a wide shade (mine is 60"). My dh and I laid it flat out on the floor and spray-glued white felt to the shade material, let it dry and rolled it back up. He mounted it on 5" hand made blocks to give it more room away from the wall to allow for the extra bulk. The shade was originally $69.99 but on sale 50% off. I saved $145!!

I would choose a nice dowel and hang some fabric for the design wall. You can always take it down if needed and you get a nice wide easy to move wall if you can't leave it up all the time. Mine is in the guest room and it usually stays up unless we have company. I used to leave it up for them also until they turned on the ceiling fan and everything blew down during the night. They felt bad but I thought it was funny.

If you purchase a roll of heavy duty duct tape, it will hang there till kingdom come.

I went to the site to check out their design walls. Very nice idea. Don't see why it can't be made ourselves if handy with tools.

I made a design wall using some batting stapled to my basement wall (chipboard, not cement) then added trim pieces like a frame to spiff it up a bit. I take my vacuum to it occasionally to get all the lose threads and spray a quilter's sticky spray occasionally when the blocks won't stay up on it. I can even use my iron on the quilt top to get rid of the wrinkles before I take it to the quilt machine. So far its worked for me.

My design wall consists of a plastic tablecloth with flannel backing tacked to the wall of my sewing room. I don't know how I put my quilts together before I heard about it on this board. Whoever wrote about it, thank you. Also the cost if very reasonable. And once in a while, I might give it a spritz of basting spray. Also it could be taken down quickly if it's in a spot you don't want company to see.

I use the rigid insulation board - 1" thick. Had them cut it in thirds so I could get it home in my car. Used 1/3 of it making an extended table for one of my machines. Taped the rest together & used T pins to attach it to the wall. I bought a design wall thing (plastic grid on one side and flannel on the other) and it's pinned to the insulation board. I can pin a good sized quilt top to my design wall because when it gets too big it won't stick to the flannel.

I keep asking for one gor Christmas but that never seems to happen. I have a very small sewing space in our guest bedroom. My design wall are four large 3m hooks attached above the closet doors. I sewed loops onto a flannel back table cloth. Cheap and so far so good. At least I can put the cloth away when company comes,

These are great ideas! I'm in our Texas winter home where I don't have as much space for all my quilting things but I do have a closet with 2 sliding doors. having a pull down one would be nice but I really like the insulation board idea too. Thanks!

I bought one and love it. It's so very sturdy. No flimsiness about it! Here's two pictures of it. One closed over my closet and one open with my blocks on it. It's so worth the money. I think that if someone came up with a great idea and went to all the trouble to make them and advertise in quilting magazines, we should buy from her and not copy her idea. We're suppose to back each other. That's what I've always done.

I use the center of my great room, and if I need to get a look at it from above I go up stairs and look over the balcony, usually take pictures from that perspective. I get a lot of stair stepping in when I change the layout. Who said you can't get fit while you are quilting?

My design board is a beautiful, wooden 3 fold room screen. It had cloth panels in it when I bought it, but they were so worn, I removed them and replaced it with flannel. What's nice is that I can spread it out as wide as I like, or just use 1 or 2 panels. It folds up neatly, and like you, I store it behind the door (when it's stored! LOL!) I like to keep nice looking patches on it when I'm not using a specific panel, both as a decoration and to remind me of the blocks I have stored.

However, your wall looks quick and easy and cheap, and certainly looks efficient! If I didn't already have mine, I'd copy yours!

I like this design wall idea! and not too expensive either. looks better than what I do... the bed:)

Oh my! That is a great design wall. We're moving in about a year and that will be going up in my new, bigger sewing room.

Call me crazy but I threw a flannel backed table cloth over a picture hung it the dinning room and for the time being it works :]

Yes, I have one and it works very well. The blocks stick well and it's nice to roll it up out of sight when I'm not using it. I wouldn't say the screen is flimsy. I would recommend it!

Thank you for all the input. We have just decided to move closer to family and I will have my own room for sewing. Yippee! But I still want something nice for a design wall. Lots of options to consider here.

i love this idea..thanks..