If walls could talk...

If you've been reading my current blog "A Quilter's Journey," then you know I'm an old, new quilter. If you haven't read it, let me catch you up. The short version is this: I can't sew, but a co-worker turned me on to quilting about 13 years ago. I quilted until my fingers bled, I had a child, I quit quilting. Nine years later, my child asks to learn to quilt and now I'm on fire again. Okay, that's the quick and dirty version. This time around, I not only desire to buy new fabrics, take classes and learn new techniques, but now I'm into selling fabrics, teaching classes and designing my own patterns. As I have been setting up my new quilting studio, one thing I didn't have before, that I found is a total must have now, is a design wall. The picture above is of my new design wall. Built by my husband, it is nothing fancy, but it is a super addition to my studio. My design wall was built out of a huge piece of pegboard like you would find hanging above a garage work bench,but I'd imagine any kind of thin plywood would work. I covered mine in thin cotton batting, but again, you could use felt or fleece or whatever soft material that you have on hand that fabric would cling to. My studio is in my basement, so my design wall is hung with concrete screws into the concrete wall. You want to make sure it is stable, so if you're hanging it on drywall, just be sure it is screwed into a stud. I attached my batting with binder clips so if for some reason I would ever need to, I can remove the batting cover and wash it. My design wall measures 4 feet wide by 7 feet long. You may need something larger depending upon the kind of quilts you're making. This design wall is an absolutely awesome way to get your block arrangements up at eye level and really see if your arrangement works. I used to do my arrangements on my cutting table, so I love having the ability to have my cutting table space freed up to be working on another project. I'd love to hear how other people have incorporated a design wall into their quilting. If you're a quilter with a great idea or insight, please share with the rest of us. We're all old, new quilters everyday and there's a lot we can learn from one another.