Using felt for a design wall
 

I want to make a new design wall, but I was thinking about using felt instead of flannel. Has anyone ever tried this?

I think the reason batting works better is the nap is a little different. I tried out flannel and warm and natural batting, IMHO the warm and natural worked better :) :) :)

Wondering why you want to try felt? It's so much more expensive than flanel or as Amma mentioned - batting.

I use flanel, have no problems with stuff sticking to it. One exception was the landscape quilt I was working on. After a while, after layer and layer of fabric and polyester thread to hold each little bit of fabric on, the quilt was far too heavy and I had to hang it with binder clips. Other than that ... I've got a finished bargello (my avatar actually) that is about 30" square just "stuck" to the wall and it stays there - no pins. Hasn't moved in months.

Libraries use felt boards with felt shapes for story telling and they stick well, but I'm not sure that 100% cotton would stick to the felt board. Especially if you are wanting to leave it and walk away for awhile. Why don't you try it on a small piece before investing in a larger sheet.

i tried felt didn't work so good....

I found felt works very well, got it on sale and holds the fabric better than flannel. the one I got I think was 72" wide so I only needed a couple yards to have a large design wall

Sounds like something to try, just to see. I will give it a shot

my design wall is 1/2" styrofoam glued to a wall with just 'dots' of construction glue here and there so when it has to be removed it will be possible to clean off the glue easily. then i used spray glue on the foam...and pressed 72" poly felt (it's not real anymore) onto the foam. the foam comes in 4 x 8' sheets so i got 8 x 8 with 2 pcs and needed 2 lengths of felt to cover the whole wall section. i thought the felt was a little too smooth so i used a scrub brush to bring up the nap and it works great. I think it isn't as 'nappy' as wool felt in the first place, but i think a lot of the nap was just crushed on the bolt... brushing it worked great and if something is getting too heavy as more and more blocks are joined, i can always pin into the foam....

What kind of glue did you use that can be removed?

I'm using the back of a plastic table cloth, and that works fairly well. It's attached to the wall with those removable sticky pads that have velcro on the other side,these are easily removed. Please let us know how the felt works for U.

I used black polar fleece ... nice and wide and low cost. Holds things great.
I have put fully pieced quilts that I've smoothed onto it and left for weeks, without any pins!

Mine is 10ft x 7-1/2ft and it's been up for two years now. I've never regretted it and now Ican't imagine sewing without it and wonder how I did anything before!

I use felt too. It was on sale and I hang it on my wall with those hooks that you peel and stick then you can pull the tab and pull it off. Works great.

I used cotton batting, and love the way it holds the fabric.

I brought a wall hanging kit and it had felt backing so decided to use it on another wall hanging and it worked great and gave the wall hanging more stability. I have also used it on place matts with great success.

construction glue (often called liquid nails, but that is a brand name, there are others) goes into a caulking gun and you kind of make a 'blob' about an inch across.... sort of 'candy kiss' size... then you just push the foam onto the blobs (mine were about 2 feet apart in a big grid..... when you need to take it off, you pop off what you can with a putty knife and then maybe need to sand a bit... but not much if any at all.... the spray glue can be trickier....spray too heavy and it will melt the foam...hold can back about a foot and move quickly so not too much goes in one spot.... just a light film is all that's needed anyway... i just sprayed about a 2 ft area, applied the felt, and then peeled back loose felt and sprayed a bit more....spray and spread...repeat....

I used my batting - it needs to hang to get rid of the wrinkles anyway...Solved 2 things...

Mary Jo's in Gastonia NC sells oil cloth backed with ???? and sells it by the yard. I'm making a sampler with about 8 different fabrics. I have 12 sampler blocks so am making one at a time, hang them on the design wall. That way, I can make sure I don't use the same color too many times and have too many other colors as I get closer to the number of blocks I want. It also helps me to make each sample block a little different. The design wall is great for being able to see what I've done already.

Mine is the same thing. I have actually used double stick tape and adhered the foam board to a piece of peg board so it has support. Then I covered the whole thing with wide felt and my husband attached it to the wall. Mine is a more permanent design wall in my quilting studio. I have never had any problem with the felt and it looks so much better than batting or plain flannel.

I have a felt wall. When I did it I didn't know any better. The small pieces stay ok but you have to pin the larger pieces.

I first considered the portability of styrofoam, then thought, where was I going to put the stuff out of the way, and besides, would I ever take it down? I was fortunate to have a long wall that I could dedicate to a design wall. I've never regretted it, and more so, wonder how I ever did anything without it. It often holds more than one project .... and even a solo block from some of my PhDs as a reminder to return to them!

I used 4'x8' tentest boards wrapped with black polar fleece, held in place with the staple gun on the backside. Then screwed the boards onto the wall side by side.

I'm using felt and bought it at walmart, (on the bolt). It was the cheapest I could get and I'm really happy with it.
I used a light cream color to stay pretty much neutral.

I used a (three fold) posting card board, which I got from Hobby Lobby, wrapped the felt around it and used staples to hold it in place. I nailed this with four tiny nails to my wall. Never had a problem. :thumbup:

I made mine out of felt. The felt was 72" wide and only 3.00 a yd. Much cheaper than flannel. I did run a brush over the felt to make it more nappy. Works great.

I don't have an empty wall. The other day I bought a screen for my living room, one of those three panel screens that has a frame and fabric for the screen, well I was going to change the fabric anyway so am going to use it for my design wall and when not in use it can be folded up. Not my idea though, I think I found the idea on this board somewhere but not sure. So I am hoping this will work and now I have ideas of what to use on it! Thank you all:o

I would use batting, but i cant touch felt. It makes my skin crawl.

I don't use felt but would love to share my idea.

I purchased 2 4'x8' sheets of 3/4" sheet of insulation foam (Lowes). Glued, with liquid nails, a 2' x 4' piece of backer board on the top end of each sheet of foam. I then covered each sheet with yardage, cut in 1/2 lengthwise, of the one piece quilt backing fabric. (Joanne purchase and 40% off coupon)
Into the backer board, screwed two screws like you'd do for hanging a picture, and hung it up on the wall. Other than the nails my wall is not damaged and I tear it down if need be.

I have a picture, but don't know how to insert into someone else's thread.
(thread here: http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...l-t169525.html)

I bought a cheap piece of 108" flannel backing from wal mart or you could get it cheap at fabric.com and covered one wall of my sewing room with it. I use poster board tacks to hold it up. I found once I washed it, my pieces stuck to it a little better. You can have a huge design wall for less than 30 dollars and take it down and wash it very easily. I have purchased another piece and take it with me to quilt classes and retreats. I use blue painters tape and have a nice design board where ever I go.

I am using a design wall made of polar fleece. I got it on sale. I love it! I have used warm and natural (loved it too) and I have one in the guest room that takes up a whole wall made of some type of building material. I put it up for a teen , so she could post all her treasures. Now its MINE! Muaahahahaha!