Saturday, July 10, 2010

Design Wall

I have never had a design wall before. I have always laid my blocks out on the floor to tweak the arrangement. A design floor is a disadvantage if you have a cat. As soon as I have my blocks arranged on the floor, Joey thinks it is time to play and he runs and slides through the middle of the blocks.

This week, I asked my husband if he would help me put up a design wall in my sewing room. The wall directly across from where my sewing machine sits was blank. I can't put a piece of furniture against that wall as there is an outside door to the left of that wall and a closet door to the right. When both doors are open, the space between the doors is only about 10" wide. Since it is hard to find a piece of furniture that is only 10" wide, that wall remained empty. The wall was really a waste of space and seemed to be crying out for a purpose.

We purchased three sheets of Styrofoam insulation and covered them with an extra wide piece of flannel. We had to work around an outlet on that wall. When the Styrofoam was turned, it fit perfectly in the space. No trimming of the Styrofoam was required and the electrical outlet was not covered.

My husband wanted to see "how the wall worked" so I added my Bridge Creek Blossom blocks to the wall. It works perfectly (as I knew it would).

My husband kept referring to this as my "feature wall". I guess it really is a feature wall since it features prominently in my sewing space. My son was home tonight and said he likes my "inspiration wall". Certainly, being able to look at my work in progress as I sew, should serve as inspiration. So I guess it is a design wall, feature wall, and inspiration wall all in one!

9 comments:

Joyce said...

I don't think I could quilt without my design wall. You are going to love yours. No more bending to move blocks...

Fran said...

You will love it - frustrates the cat, but he'll get over it! I started out years ago with a flannel sheet just hung on the all - I finally graduated to a 8 x 8 wall, and I love it! No pins necessary unless the blocks have too much weight due to lots of seams.

Pat at Bell Creek Quilts said...

You'll really like the design wall. makes it so easy to *see* how your quilts are going to look!

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

Great design wall - I don't have a wall big enough or bare enough - but I manage by laying things out on the bed. Have fun. Love the blocks.

onlymehere said...

Love it! One day when the full-sized bed is out of my sewing room I'll have a design wall. I lay them out on the floor in the front room right now but I don't have a cat, I have grandkids! They cause the same mess with a pieced quilt laid out on the floor!

You were smart to do it this way on an unused space!
Cindy

Anonymous said...

looks good

Aunt Ardelle

Linda C said...

No matter what you call it, this spot is perfect for a design wall. Hurray for Harold helping you out with this! Got to keep that outlet handy for vacuuming etc so no way would you want to cover that up. Blocks look pretty up there.

Beth said...

Congrats on your new design wall. I just put up a new one. My old one is tucked behind the long arm..and has a black dog hair line JUST as high as that dog! lolol Pretty soon you will not know how you lived without one. I love the new names...feature wall and inspiration wall..both are good descriptions!

Susan Tidwell said...

I have never had a design wall either, the floor works okay but I think I am getting too old for all that bending over! I love yours and all the names for it. Thanks for visiting my little corner of cyberspace.