i purchased 1" foam board (white) from home depot...about $4 a sheet-8'x4'...i bought 3 of them...then i bought wide white flannel, covered one side of each 8'x4' foam board butted them together side by side and adhered them to the wall. so i have a 12'x8' design wall... i can have a whole quilt in the works plus room of other blocks, and if anyone else is around sewing there is room for them to use too. and the blocks just stick to the flannel...like flannel story boards from elementary school. some people purchase flannel backed vinyl tableclothes and use the flannel side, some have been really 'crafty' and made a shade over a window work as one...so you can pull it down when needed, roll it up when not needed. you will use as much space as you give yourself...so if possible i would try to dedicate a whole wall, if that is not do=able any size is handy. :thumbup:

I don't have one. My sewing room is too small and filled with windows and closets and doors. So, I use the floor of the living room, which no one ever goes into.

I tacked a large piece of warm and natural on the wall.

Since moving from one house to another mine has changed. I did have a piece of insulation on the wall but here it took up too much wall space. So I covered foam core boards with flannel and put them on the closet doors with double stick tape.Need to buy more tape. I figure when I have to move again I can just take these down and arrange them any way I need to.

It is so much easier to put the block on the wall than on the bed or floor. (don't bend to easy anymore)Mine is behind the door on the wall and it works great. That way it doesn't take up any use-able wall space.

I've made only two quilts so my knowledge of quilting is limited. What's a design wall?

I never thought of mounting one on the back of the door. That is the only unused space in my sewing room. So I never had room for one. I get so many good ideas from this board. Thanks.

I have a piece of felt about about 60" x 60" and hang it with plastic pants hangers from the back of the door to my room or it I need it to be larger I hang it from the shelf brackets that go all the way around my sewing suite. Works great as the cloth sticks to the felt quite well.

A friend, who is a quilting teacher, just the other night said that you can make a design wall out of those inexpensive flannel backed table cloths. Put it up on the wall however you want to attach it with the flannel side facing you. You would probably want more than one and may even want to sew them together or something. I am thinking about having DH make a very thin wood frame that I can hang from two or three hooks and attach the table cloths to that. That way it would be removable if I had to do so. I might even ask if it is possible to make it into a folding frame so that it could be stored elsewhere.

I use insulation board but I find that if I use pins they get glue on them from the board after a while. my ceiling fan blows them off so I have to pin them

I read a tip on this board months ago that said the back of a vinyl tablecloth works. I went out to my cupboard in the garage and pulled out one that was about 5 yrs old and well used, turned it over and tacked it to the wall and it works like a dream.

I used 2 1/2 yds flannel backed fake leather as thick as I could get. (JoAnn's using a 40% off coupon) Screwed it onto the wall using a 1 x 2 piece of wood also 2 1/2 yds. long. Fabric behind the wood. I was going to also put the wood on the bottom but found I didn't need to as it hung so well. Mine is in my quilting loft so I can only hang it the width of the fabric. You could hang it as high on the wall as you would like to.

I read that a 4X8 sheet of insulation board covered with flannel is the best way to go. The flannel holds the fabric in place without pins. I don't have room for one so I put a piece of flannel over the door in my sewing room. Since the flannel hangs straight down I do have to use pins. Of course this only works on crib quilts or small lap quilts, anything bigger and I have to go to the floor. :thumbup:

went to the local lumber yard and asked about insulation foam about 1/8 to 1/4. GAve me a nice pc. they could not use for anything it was chopped up, then added an old flannel blanket and voila a design board. This is stuck to a wall in my sewing room by T-pins so I can move it.

I used flannel, push pinned to wall. If it gets slick and won't hold on to fabric, I brush it gently with a soft brush. I have a finished baby quilt top pressed to it now. Has been holding it for several days with no pins.

an area on your wall where you can put your quilt squares and see your quilt come together before you sew it.

http://www.suite101.com/content/maki...gn-wall-a50402

Same thing, only I covered it with flannel I purchased at Joann's in a medium gray, so as not to impact colors.

LOL. My "design" wall is a twin bed standing up againt the wall (to clear space) with a piece of flannel on it.

thank you

Mine is 48 inch square, hung on wall, covered with felt. DH had a piece of scrap plywood, covered it for me and hung on wall at my eye level (not his). Works great and is right size.

I used those over-the-door 'hooks' and a shower curtain rod. I got some fuzzy flannel and made a sleeve on top to go through the rod, and a small one on the bottom to insert a wooden dowel for weight. I pieced the flannel and hung it over the closed doors of the closet in my sewing room. This way I can take it down and roll it to store it out of sight when I'm not working on it.

Here's a picture of it: http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/...03630418GLWHnS

Works great for me, and hubby's happy that I did not need to put any holes in the walls. Hope it helps!

Trina :)

WOW, so many ideas! Thanks to all of you---don't stop now!

I don't have a sewing room, but I do have a dining room. LOL. My design wall is a flannel sheet that I put on livingroom furniture. When the family needs the furniture, I roll it up, everything stays put on it, and I stash it in my bedroom.

I converted one of the kids bedrooms to my sewing room. I took the doors off the closet and put shelves and a metal container with drawers (kind of like a file cabinet only it has small drawers instead of files). I have hung a decorative rod above the closet and all the way across the wall. I have a piece of white felt that I hang over the rod and it gives me my design wall. I love it! It is easy to pin my blocks and rearrange as needed.

I use a piece of batting 60 x 72 that i hung on a curtain rod on the wall. Works really well, hold lots of stuff and so far I haven't had to use pin or anything else to secure stuff.

I went to Lowe's and purchased a huge sheet of green insulation board. I then drug it home..and asked DH to hang it for me. Well..I waited and waited..and waited..6 months past..and that blasted board was laying in our upstairs hallway. Last week..I decided that I was tired of asking him to hang it. I got a brillant idea! I had 200 feet of velcro left from making leaders for my longarm. I decided where and how high I wanted it. I measured and made sure it would hang level. I drew lines on the back of the board..top and bottom horizontally, then I made 4 vertical line evenly spaced on the board. I put the velcro together..and stuck it to the board. Then turned the board to face the wall and removed the tape on all the rows of velcro. The board is very light and I had no trouble lifting it and sticking it to the wall. It is covered now with flanel. Hubby came home..and looked at me..Nice Job!
By the way...it is still sticking to the wall..LOL
Peace and Blessings,
Janet

Mine is the same as Bigsister63 ... a large flannel backed tablecloth pushpinned to the wall. It works great!

I have 2 pieces of pressboard leaned up against my wall. Then I bought a cheap picnic tableclothe from the dollar store that had cotton on the back and draped it over the boards. The fabric sticks to the back of the picnic tableclothe fantastically.

I purchased from home improvement store a 4'x8' by 1" thick piece of insulating sheathing (owens corning). I then cut it in half with a utility knife making 2 4'x4' pieces. Using duct tape , tape the sides back together (like a book). I then opened it up and duct taped some cheap batting (or you could use flannel or felt) over the entire inside. It folds up and can be stored under a bed or in a closet when not used. P.S. I used the 1" thickness so my pins would be less likely to go all the way through.

A flannel sheet push pinned to the wall. Small things will stick to the flannel without pinning but when I get long strips etc. together I just pin it to the flannel with quilters straight pins. Works for me. I have a step ladder in the room when I need to pin from the ceiling down for larger quilts.

Mine is a queen-size Warm & Natural Batting with a sleeve in the bottom. The sleeve is for a piece of baseboard, which adds just enough weight to hold the batting taut, allowing the blocks to stick better. And when I'm done, the batting comes down and gets folded up in a drawer.

I have 1 3/4 sheets of exterior insulation covered on felt. I used white felt but have read off white or light gray is good. Attach the felt to the foam board with spray glue starting in the center working toward the ends a section at a time so you can smooth it out before the glue sets.We put it up with L screws. The long leg is threaded and screws right into the wall. Used 4 on the long sides and 3 on the short sides. This means you can turn the screws sideways if you need the board to be portable and have only a few holes to patch if you need to take it down completely.

I have a multi hook hanger over a door, with a cafe rod hanging from it. I've hung a big piece of white felt that I've had for years from it. (I used safety pins and cafe hangers) Less than 15 minutes and I've got a great wall that holds my fabric via friction, and I can put away when I need the room for one of. I put the next project up once I start the final of the current project. Keeps me motivated!

Hi Peggy:
This DH and I built a new home and I got the best dream sewing space. The DH built a row of shelving along one whole wall to hold the stash...which is mostly kits that I've collected over the years. Then to make certain that certain that all that fabric was protected against light damage, we added a sort of sliding door mechanism to the top shelf and then two doors that cover the works. Each of the two doors is 6 ft 1 inch wide and 69 inches tall. Of course, just one of the doors is perfect for a design wall. The fact is: I have two of them--two design walls!

I bought the wall material from Keepsake Quilting and right now I have it draped over my closet doors, but I am planning on hanging it on a curtain rod.

My friend just bought a portable one at a quilt show as neither of us have wall space. It folds up like a camping chair, but opens to accommodate a king size quilt, stands at an angle and it VERY sturdy. I'm going to the Sewing Expo next month and asked her if she liked it- she loves it! She has the foam core one made and it works fine, but just no room in her home in Florida.
For the Newbies- they're like an artists palette- you have to stand a few feet away from the blocks to get a true idea of what the colors do- the flat bed just doesn't work the same!

I have a Block Butler, and I love it. If it loses its stick, I just spritz it with water and it works great.

I went to Big Lots and got flannel back table cloths on sale for two dollars each and hung them on the wall with tape. It works great and it isn't permanent, so I can remove it.

This is what I did. My Home Depot called the boards "sound board". Bought cheap batting from WalMart.

you can get a flannel sheet and use push pins or cover the foam board with the sheet, the quilt blocks with just cling to it