One of the most frequent questions I am asked is about the Quilt Design Wall next to my sewing machine. So I thought I’d put all of the answers in one, handy place for easy reference!
First of all: What is a Quilt Design Wall?
A Design Wall is a place to hang or audition quilt blocks or a quilt-in-progress. They’re especially handy so that you can step back and see the ‘big-picture’ of the project you’re working on, keep your blocks organized, and play with different layouts without having to lay them on the floor.
Typically they are made of some type of flannel or batting material so that the cotton blocks will ‘stick’ to the design wall without having to use pins or adhesives.
Where can you get a Design Wall?
There are lots of options to purchase commercially for Design Walls*. It’s also easy to make your own Design Wall. Here are some options:
I purchased the design wall hanging next to my sewing machine. It’s a heavy-duty flannel on one side with grommets at the top for hanging. I haven’t been able to find this specific design wall, but Fons and Porter makes a very similar design wall version available from Amazon or Joann Fabrics.
Connecting Threads also has a large portable, pop up Design Wall available here.
*affiliate links
It’s also very easy to Make Your Own Design Wall
Christa Quilts has an excellent tutorial for building a large Design Wall out of foam core – especially perfect if you have a dedicated space to hang in on your wall.
Suzy Quilts has a list of great ideas for making your own Quilt Design Wall.
One other variation are these super handy mini design boards. My friend Emily made me some and I’ve LOVED them. They’re perfect of laying out quilt blocks, auditioning fabric, or just keeping your pieces in place until you’re ready to sew.
Lori Holt has a tutorial to make your own Design Board (mine don’t have the decorative border, which is fine with me) or this video tutorial if you like the extra visuals. You can also buy Lori’s Design Boards ready made here in multiple sizes.
6 Comments
Dhorea
December 21, 2020 at 8:24 amI purchased a plastic tablecloth with a light flannel/fuzzy backing it works perfect and very light. I used sticky velcro to attach to the wall. Had it up in 15 minutes.
Amy
December 22, 2020 at 10:25 amSo smart! Thanks for sharing this tip!
Dawn Bradt
December 26, 2020 at 5:09 pmI just don’t have a wall bare. Thats my problem. My room is little. only 10×10.
Lindsey Ingoldby
December 28, 2020 at 3:02 pmThank you for this brilliant idea 👍
Lynn Prather
December 29, 2020 at 7:02 pmI made a design wall earlier this year with the foam insulation that I covered in wide width flannel. I turned it length wise on the wall which I like unless I have an entire quilt on it. Super easy and very helpful.
Amy
December 30, 2020 at 1:03 pmThat sounds awesome!