Design Wall

[chrisee]

How timely for me are the suggestions given to Barbara in her post "Designing a Studio." We are designing our new house. Perhaps I will have to name my new-to-be studio Phoenix....rising out of the ashes. (Previously I worked between 3 bedrooms)

I would really appreciated any experienced advice about a design wall.

[meg]

i just thumb tacked a flat flannel sheet to the wall in my room and i lolve it - it is nice and big, very stable, i can get far away from it to have a long distance look and didnt cost me a lot.

[Busy Quilting]

I use a large piece of cotton batting/wadding. Bull dog clipped to the outside of sliding doors or top folded over and on a hanging rod.

It is good to have it hanging somewhere so that you can step far (20 ft) away from it.

They say you should view something at 3 ft, 8 ft and 20ft, or use one of the door viewers.

lyn

[Lori Dinsmore]

insulation board is a great way to make a design wall. Its foam sheets that they use when they build houses. It comes in different thickness and you can cut them to any size. Cover it with batting. They are about $25.00 at building supply stores. It is handy that you can also put pins in them, if the need arises.

[Corey]

The insulation board is called Cellotex. I used two panels covered with gray felt, mounted to the wall. Its very useful, make sure you put it on a wall where you have a good full view of your quilt blocks and pieces. I got the instruction from Mary Mashutta's old book Confetti Quilt, it has a how to instruction towards the back pages of the book.

I also bought a big portable by Cheryll Anns Design Wall. kinda pricey, $130 or so but really good.

Corey

[Calicoquilter]

Chrisee,

I think I saw this on "Simply Quilts" or some other quilt show. They took two pieces of inulation board and taped them together in the middle (on one side only) so that it made a hinge. Then they covered it with flannel. They could set it up and use it like a design wall and when they needed to straighten up, they could just fold it in half and slide it under the bed.

[chrisee]

Thankyou for all the suggestions.

I think, Colleen, that that would be my best bet having a 'foldaway' though I should have enough wall space to leave my design wall 'up.'

Chrisee

[klwheeler]

I bought 2 design wall flannels from Fons and Porter at Joanne's one day and tacked them up to the wall with those pushpins. Now I can take them down and move them when needed and it is very easy to use. After a few uses the flannel pulls out and everything sticks nicely. The grid on the back is helpful too.

[blair8904]

For my current design wall, DH mounted a bunch of clips on a board that is nailed to the wall just below the ceiling. I hang a large (queen size) batting from those. Strong enough to pin to if necessary.

[Merryjo2003]

Look on the "Quilt in a Day" website. There are instructions for a great design wall. It's made with headliner fabric and works fantastic.

[Cheri-Artzgirl]

I used 2 sheets of insulation board, covered the front and edges with white cotton batting (attached with adhesive spray) and the slipped it into a tight super large white flannel pillow case, then put 4 metal grommets along the top edge and hooks at the top edge of the wall. Should we ever need to move, I only have to patch the 4 small holes at the top from the hooks and its so light weight. I don't know how I lived without this size of a design board!!

[smorris]

Hi Chrisee

What a great name. Have fun planning your beautiful new studio. Natural and overhead lighting, easy to clean floors and lots of cupboards would be things to consider.

Can't wait to visit your new studio.

sue

[marycontrary]

I too have some old insulation boards that I have reused in 3 different houses over the past 15 years or so. Had to cut them down a little in this newest space. Then hubby screwed them to the wall and I covered them with a "cheap" felty sage green blanket I ordered from JCPenney.com. This is the kind of blanket that got bad reviews as a blanket, but works great as a design wall. Glued it down on the face and edges with a thin layer of "odorless" (that is a relative term) contact cement spread with a brush. Then hubby made a frame around the edges with the type of moulding used around door frames.

The blanket is big enough that it can be used in one piece that covers the seam where the boards butt up against each other. Makes it look like one large board. It also made it possible to use a little color rather than the white or off-white of batting.

[dancingstitcher]

My design wall is 8' tall by 11' wide and made in three layers - Homasote board 1/3" thick screwed onto the wall (it is very lightweight and you can find it by doing a Google search), covered in polyester batting that is stapled to the top, bottom and side edges, then tacked where they butt together. The top last layer is E. E. Schenck flannel in 2" grid with vertical, horizontal and diagonal purple lines, pre-washed to shrink slightly, sewn together (just one seam for my size), then the whole large piece is put up in one unit with folded over edges stapled along the top, down the sides, and then along the bottom, taking care to stretch taught. I usually have at least one project on it at a time and have had three small ones going at a time. Also can pin notices, reminders, and thank you notes. Also room to pin up ideas to ponder over what to do.

Then I have five lights on a tack shining down for good illumination. This makes for a great wall for photography of whole quilts since I can pin them in place. Because of the flannel, smaller pieces of fabric stick well and the grid lines help me get organized and keep track of sizes and alignment.

Tried to find the E. E. Schenck link for you but there is a lot of searching. Two others in my quilting group found it. Homasote is not sold in a big box store but at a lumber yard. Be sure to get a staple gun that can put in staples right up to the wall edge as some guns can't shoot that close to get within a 1/2". Also the screws to affix the Homasote have washer type ends so they hold the board well.

Portable Design Wall - For taking to classes I purchased foam photo mounting board, slit it in half on just the back side, not all the way through, attached duck tape when in the folded position, then wrapped it in polyester thin batting and duck taped the the wrapped edges to the back. Then added a decorative rope for a handle. This can then be taken to class, propped up on a table top or floor and used to layout my project. I like that it can be folded in half and stuffed into my large carryall.

Vicki

[dancingstitcher]

Here is a close up of the E. E. Schenck fabric covering one corner of my design wall.

[dancingstitcher]

Here's a photo of the full design wall.

Vicki

[Kueser]

Love that fabric but can't find it. I found the E. E. Schenck web site but it looks like they carry lots of brands of fabric. How long ago did you buy this fabric? Maybe it is out of production now. Did it have any other identification?

[meg]

well, vicki the dancing stitcher, looks like you win the design wall prize. that thing is awesome!

[chrisee]

Thankyou to everyone for the great feed back.

I would have to agree with Meg.....Vicki's design wall is great...so far in Australia I haven't been able to locate that fabric either. We would have an alternative to Homasote here, but I am still researching that. I will be following the permanent feature path.....and the ability for photography of quilts sounds good.

[Joy]

Vicki

Do you know where on the site we can find that fabric or what it is called

Thanks