Headliner fabric which can be purchased at Hancock's makes a great design wall. Blocks stick really well. And, I agree-warm and natural works too.

I used one of the foam covered insulation boards from Home Depot. I was advised to use the one with the silver coating on the outside (I think it says R12 on it - about $12), as it held up the best and was easiest to pin to. Also, I covered it with high-quality flannel (printed with 2" squares) which was so much better than the cheaper flannel or the flannel backed table clothes that I had tried in the past. If you make the flannel like a pillowcase, and just lean the board against the wall, you can turn it around and switch sides - you'll have 2 for the price of 1! Mine has been leaning against the wall for about 2 1/2 yrs now.

I had a problem, in that in TX it gets very hot. We run ceiling fans all the time, and no matter how wonderful the flannel or felt was, the blocks would eventually peel off from the wind of the fan. So, having something to pin into was a great help - and it pinned so easily that I LOVE it now as both a design wall, and a piece of it is also my 'idea' or 'inspiration' area.

I hope this helps. You'll LOVE having one, no matter what you decide on! Currently, I'm trying to figure out if I can have a 2nd one...I do love my design wall! I wish I had one whole wall as one :) They're just so handy!

Debbie in Austin

My design wall is an old flannel sheet wrapped around a foam board and hung on the wall. works for me, its only 4x8 thinking about making it 8x8.

Here is a whole bunch more replies for ya.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/search....gn+wall&u=&s=0
I like the idea of using a roller type shade for a design wall and I am so sorry I don't remember the name of the person I got the idea from but it would work great for me since I have a problem leaving a wall blank.
Here are the search results for roller shade design walls.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/search....gn+wall&u=&s=0

I use a flannel backed vinyl table cloth that I hang on my wall...It's in expensive, big enough to handle alot of blocks and easy to put up and take down if I need to...I know you can buy alot of more expensive design walls, but I payed $3.00 for table cloth at Family Dollar....and works great..

Sandi

I had a huge piece of fleece and just used push pins to tack it to the wall over my closet in my sewing room and my squares are still stuck to it while I sew each row together.

60" wide cheap black fleece works great, put it up on the wall with stick pins and the black just makes everything you put on it "POP" !!!

I need a design wall. :)