After two years in this house, I finally got around to putting up a design wall.
I have been using the floor for the most part, but after laying out my blocks for the latest quilt top, I got a lot of pushback from my family who apparently felt that completely blocking access to the kitchen was “unreasonable.” Not a quilter among them to sympathize with my need to make sure that the Xs in different shades of blue were distributed attractively across the top.
So at long last I got a 4’ x 8’sheet of foam board and put up a design way.
It isn’t a complicated process. I cut off a foot as our ceilings are barely 8’ up, and with the trim I needed more wiggle room.
I had the flannel still from the last house’s design wall; I just sewed the two lengths together and then spent a minimal amount of time ironing it. A lint roller cleared off all the threads from previous quilts.
It was a quick task to trim and tape the flannel around the board. I kept the writing side to the back so the words wouldn’t show through – the other side of this board is a reflective silver. I pulled it taut, but didn’t worry about perfection.
What I should have worried about was the wall it was going to be hung on. I forgot about the wall socket. It is our only nearby electrical outlet for the room’s main lamps, so it couldn’t just be covered up.
The solution involved a box knife and more duct tape. Not attractive, but it worked. I may get white tape and recover it in a more aesthetically minded way in the future. Or, I may just not think about it ever again.
A few finishing nails to hang it on the wall and now I have a design wall. A little narrow, but it will keep the path to the kitchen clear – most of the time anyway.
