Hastle free design wall

For a long time it has bothered me that I didn't have enough wall space for several design walls. I was constantly putting a quilt on the design wall to work for awhile, remove it to work on the table awhile, put it back onto the design wall to view at a distance, and repeat the process.

Then there would be the times when I would be working on a secret quilt gift. The person who shouldn't see it would call to say they were on the way over. I would have to scramble to remove the pieces from the wall and put it away in a drawer. Sometimes loosing small pieces in the process.

Or I would be working on one quilt design when for whatever reason my creative thoughts would hit a snag. I would take the quilt off the wall, put it away in a drawer, pull out another from a different drawer to put up and work on a while.

I've finally hit upon a much better solution. I'm so excited!! Here is what I did. I knew my brother owed me a small sum of money. So I asked him.... instead of paying me back would he give me some of the insulation boards he had? I asked for 3 boards cut in half to make them 4 x 4 foot pieces. So here they are.


I could have used them this way but I decided to do something a little nicer. I wanted them to have 'grip' to them when I put pieces on there and to look pretty. I could have spent money on flannel but that isn't in my budget. So...I pulled out some of my recycled batting to use. (Sorry about the dark picture, I don't know what happened.)


Since I was here by myself I had to rely on pins for extra hands. I pinned all around the outside of the board. Yes, I could have used some spray baste but I find it hard to breath around that stuff.

I really gave the batting a good tug to make it snug; just not so much that it made the insulation board buckle. Yup, Quilter's Dream is strong enough for tugging. I also removed the thin plastic sheeting that had the blue writing. I didn't want my design wall to be an advertisement for that company. I would if they paid me for advertising space.


When I had the front all snug and pinned, I could turn it over without loosing the tension on it. Then I cut out the corners and wrapped the edges around. Also pulling it snug and pinning.


Then I went looking for a way to hold it to the backside. I decided I would use what I had. This turned out to be clear sealing tape. I had a couple of rolls of it for sealing boxes ready for ups. I taped the batting along the edge on the back side.



OK, that done, I needed a way to hang them. I went looking for something I possibly already had around the house. I first came across some old grommets. These were from when I had planned to make my own shower curtains. I thought.....how neat, I can use them to make the boards really fancy. But then....I found some binder clips and a couple of long nails. Well, not quite as fancy but still workable.

I knew I needed the binder clips to be in the same position on all of the boards so I marked a guide line.


Then I put the binder clips on in the same position for all of the boards.


Now it was time to take down the old design wall. This is the before. As you can see, I'm using a lamp for light. My overhead lights are not working anymore and the electrician hasn't gotten to me yet.


Golly, I really had that design wall stuck up there to stay. It had nails all around the outside plus this tape underneath. I can't imagine why I thought a lightweight piece of foam needed so much strength to hold it up.



Oakie doakie, the old wall down, a new wall goes up.


YEA!! Now I can work on any quilt, at any time. There will be no need to worry about taking it off the wall when I want to work on the table. No worries about last minute phone calls from someone who is supposed to be surprised. In a matter of seconds; I can take one wall down and put another one up. Multiple design walls without having the actual wall space. Storing the walls in another room is do able too. Easy to take one out, easy to put one away.

The really neat thing is that I didn't have to pay for any of it. I traded or looked around the house for what I had that I could use. If I hadn't been able to get the foam board I probably could have used plain cardboard boxes cut open and taped together. I get plenty of cardboard boxes. At least two each time I place an order for batting.

Not only will this idea save space, it will also save time. What would have in the past taken several minutes to change can now be done in only seconds.