I love my Design wall. First used an old piece of felt that covered one of my two door closet. worked great but I wanted BIGGER. So the next time at Joanns, purchased a two yard piece so my board would be 72 x 72". Well the new felt is terrible, nothing really sticks to it....so now have to find something else, will try flannel.

Reallly great idea if you have a bed to stick it under

That's my problem also. It's no wall of any size at all, but I took a cork bulletin board that the kids had had, covered it with flannel, and used that. I could put a few things on, but it helped when piecing blocks. I could line them up in sewing order and not have to use that darned ripper as often.

That's my problem also. It's no wall of any size at all, but I took a cork bulletin board that the kids had had, covered it with flannel, and used that. I could put a few things on, but it helped when piecing blocks. I could line them up in sewing order and not have to use that darned ripper as often.

Where did you get the 3M hooks?

hooks can be found at Walmart or Home Depot

Thanks for the dialogue. Maybe, just maybe, I could have another fabric that I could lay on top of the screen before I rolled it up, if there were pieces on it. I'll be sure to post info if I try it out.

thinking, thinking .... :-)

Have seen the fold up's in mags and @ Quilt Shows. Seems like a waste of $$$ to me plus I don't have the floor space for it, even for a few hours. My design wall is 2 2 ydsxWOF white flannel panels sewn together. I hang on wall with push pins. Some of my projects stay up there for months, waiting for INSPIRATION to hit me.... JMHO!

Lots of great ideas. I experimented with different things before going all out.

I had the luxury of space ... picture this, a 10'x7-1/2' design wall. Used tentest sheeting, covered with black polar fleece. Screwed each panel onto the wall. LOTS of space for many projects ... and almost always covered! At Christmas I had a 50"x70" throw hung on it for two weeks til it was quilted, and it never budged! :)

LOVE LOVE LOVE my fuzzy wall!!
Best. Investment. Ever!!! :)

How about one of those fold-up dress makers cutting mats we all used to use for making garments? It has lines on it and it's easy to stick pins into and it will stand on it's own or fold up to hide behind furniture. You could also staple flannel to it. I use mine when making small quilts in order to get everything straight.

I used the spray glue for my design wall, so could no doubt use it for smaller ones too.

I was told I'd need to use pins for anything larger ... as mentioned above, I discovered I didn't. (I'm using polar fleece)

With the leftover pieces of the board, I made some smaller ones, for mini design walls ... to keep pieces in order, as I sew at the machine.

Great idea. I like the portability of it. :thumbup:

I was wondering if it would work too

Any one have any ideas why my old felt worked but the new
purchased didn't.....will buy fleece next time for sure.
However am using the front of my closet with 2-3 foot doors
and held on top with hook velcro that way can take the whole thing down when and if it is ever empty...currently working on a very complex quilt and I don't know what I would have done without my wall to fit my jig-saw pieces of this puzzle together....

I just made one using 2 felt panels I found at walmart in the blanket area for $5 they are 64x48 and sewed in the middle and hung it from curtain clips from my picture moulding. I works like a charm and easy to take down if needed.

Sounds great, I covered a large bulletin board with white flannel and it works great. I did read somewear that you should not have white because it drains the color. Has anyone else read that? I don't remember what color was suggested.

:):):) :thumbup:

When I bought flooring a few yrs ago, they had a black card with a window, so you could see the true colour. That influenced my choice of black fleece ... and the fact I figured white would soon look dirty and dingy.

A lint roller takes off the loose threads pretty quick!

There are many ideas' out there to help with a design wall. Some will sit on a table others like those mentioned are made of styrofoam. The best I found was a toss up between 2. One made of PCV pipe the 1" size which could be made from table top to king size floor but the large floor size just didn't seem that it would work with most homes. The styrofoam one I liked is the one where you go to home depot and buy a special type of building styrofoam. The foam is 1" (which makes it easy for storing). But it has aluminum on one side. Buy one 8' sheet cut it in half. You can put inexpensive hindges on the one side so it folds to put away and opens to the other side that you can put whatever fabric(cotton, canvas) is your choice. There is a tut out there in the vass internet but I didn't save it, I think I found it on a blog. I don't know if this helped but this type of foam helps keep some of that foam that floats away is cut down
JJat2

Yes, good idea. Also useful is when the seasons change you can pick up flannel back oblong tablecloths in the clearance section to use as a design wall. Cheap - couple of dollars, folds up and fits anywhere and being flannel, the fabric sticks to it. Keep those ideas coming.

I use a broken down cardboard box on my son's easel wrapped in a mattress pad. It works great, but no where big enough. Big enough for small pieces such as placemats and table runners or even table toppers and wall hangings. Depends on the size of the cardboard box. I too, don't have a wall available for this. I want to hang a curtain rod in front of something. And,I believe I just thought of where. Thanks, guys. You learn so much here. :-D
Thanks for the tut on the icons. I've also been wanting to know how. Next comes the fancy signatures. :?:

Saw this the other day, but I agree with everyone else, I'll try to make one. http://www.clotilde.com/detail.html?...554&cat_id=278

Yes your board would work really well. The only thing is you'd be limited by size. In 4-H we can these educational display boards.

Here are some pics of mine with my churn dash blocks

I have one already made up. I put 2 grommets at the top and two curtain rod hook things for the center above my closet door When not in use I fold it away.
Works great for me.

I made one small one with Cardboard. Took 3 layers of cardboard and a layer of batting and covered it with flannel. Works great and is small enough to store. The design WALL is an inexpensive table cloth that I bought at Anna's Linens. It is a plastic one with flannel backing. Cost $2.99. Easy and works even better.

What a big bunch of great ideas! Everyone is so clever!

I'm actually trying to make a design wall today, using a method a friend told me about: buy a piece of 1-inch thick styrofoam from Lowe's, they will cut it to whatever size you want. Get it home somehow. (My friend's wall is big, about 5x8 feet). Prewash enough flannel to cover in your choice of color. Iron it. Get somebody to help you stretch the flannel around the foam board tautly but not too tight, overlapping it at least 10 inches to the back. Duct-tape the flannel snugly to the back. If you have a sewing room, attach it to the room's wall however. If not (like me) find a storage place for the design wall and haul it out as needed. I need a large one that can be moved in and out of my dining room, my only place to sew. We'll see how this works out for me.

If you do it send a picture. I use a vinyl table cloth but I sewed fleece to it to make it more sturdy and it works fine. Would like to have something I can fold and put away

Doesn't sound at all far-fetched. Actually, sounds like such a great idea I think I'll go down to the local Walmart and see if I can find one. Thanks!

My design wall is made of a card board tri fold poster of Trace Akins from DS display. I covered the back ( couldn't cover Trace Could I?) with a flannel backed table cloth from the DS using staples. It folds up into a 4x4 area that I can slide under the bed if I like. Of course since I use it so much it stays up all the time. Works just fine and it only cost me a couple dollars.

I don't know how to do those either! Boo! :thumbdown: I"m hoping someone will see your post and explain it to us. :lol:

This might be more money than you want to spend but the idea is terrific. Check out the site Vanishingwall.com
It retracts into itself with the blocks on it and is attractive also. I saw one at the Boise Idaho quilt show.
Awesome idea especially if you have limited space.

My guest room is my sewing room. I have the mattress standing on end against the wall and the mattress pad is my design wall. When the kids come to visit, I can roll up the mattress pad and put a different one on for them to sleep on.

The place I go to "Sit & Sew" uses vinyl tablecloths, turned around backwards..Heck go to the dollar store and get 2 or 3 and try them out. If it don't work, you haven't invested alot of money. That's what I'm going to try.

I use a vinyl tablecloth as well. Easy, cheap, and portable.

I would go to Michael's and get 2 formboards. Use duct tape on one so it would fold to store. You will have a bigger area and cheater.

I can't think of the name of those boards either. Bought a few in my time for kid's science fairs.
Robin in TX

sounds like it would work

Bought this one at Joann's the other day with my 50% off coupon. Wish I could tell you about it but it is still in the package. I need to buy those 3M stickon the wall things to hang it with so until I get those it may as well stay in its bag.

I use foam core board from Dollar tree or Walmart. Mine has a hanging cord and I can easily remove it from the wall. You can butt several together to make a larger wall. I covered my with flannel by spraying glue down and spreading the flannel on it. They are very light weight and you can push pins into them easily... I use a smaller one for assembling one block,,, mho