First, the good news: there's a 96" x 96" design wall in my hallway across from the entrance to my sewing room, and my Deco Quilt blocks are up on the wall. Hooray! This is the project-in-progress that was on the design wall in my old studio in North Carolina right before I had to pack everything up and move to Florida this past December. It's good to see those blocks out again, especially since now I can see the progress I made working on additional blocks here and there throughout the move. Woot woot!
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| My Scandi Deco Bed Quilt Blocks Are Up on My Brand-New Design Wall |
Now for the bad news: this new design wall did not turn out anywhere near as nice as the old one, and it's going to require immediate revision. For one thing, we shouldn't have put it up so high -- my fault entirely, as I thought it might be nice to be able to plug a vacuum cleaner into the bottom outlet socket. We should move it down to completely cover the outlet so it's centered nicely from top to bottom the way it's centered from side to side.
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| Bernie Said "Quick, Cover It Up With Your Quilt Blocks!" |
Actually, what Bernie said was "I KNEW it was going to look like crap. Cover it up with your quilt blocks so I don't have to look at it."
Here's what we did differently from the first design wall that may have impacted why the first one looked so great, and this new one, not so much:
- Although we used 4' x 8' sheets of foam insulation board from a home improvement store both times, Bernie says we got a different kind than last time because Lowes didn't have the same stuff we bought before
- We covered the last design wall in yardage of 100% cotton English bump drapery interlining fabric because I had just enough of it left on a bolt from my interior design days. This time, I used Quilters Dream Natural Cotton Select Loft batting because I've heard that other people use batting successfully for their design walls and I have a TON of quilt batting.
- Last time, we smoothed and wrapped the heavy flannel interlining fabric around the edges of the foam boards and secured the raw edges to the back with duct tape, and Bernie attached the wrapped boards to the walls invisibly with industrial Velcro hook and loop tape. When that seemed not to be holding after the first few days, he supplemented the Velcro with a few well-placed screws through the front of the panels, but those screw heads disappeared into the heavily napped fabric pretty well and were unobtrusive. Since we don't plan to be in our current home for as long as our last one, and since the industrial Velcro took off huge chunks of drywall and necessitated extensive repairs when we took the old design wall down for our move, Bernie opted to skip the Velcro and install the new design wall exclusively with screws and these giant washer disc thingys.
Here's what happens when you put screws through a naked layer of quilt batting:
The quilt batting is just plain awful for this purpose, to be honest -- if I was going to use quilt batting for a design wall, I should have used a batting with scrim. This batting stretched apart and distorted into weird bulges when Bernie was trying to reposition it on the foam board sheets that he'd sprayed with adhesive and he wasn't able to get it all smooth again. What's worse, when he put screws through the front with his drill, the batting fibers caught on the threads of the screw, stretching, distorting, and tearing holes in the batting. Not at all the nice, clean finish I was anticipating. I'm sure those giant washer discs are there for a reason, but they look horrible.
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| It Does Look Better With Quilt Blocks On It |
To refresh everyone's memory as to what I was expecting, here are a few shots of the clean-finished Bump interlining wrapped foam boards that served as my design wall in my last studio. We made that design wall back in 2013 and you can read all about it in this post from 11 years ago. The only disappointing thing about that first design wall was having to cut off the top right corner to accommodate the sloped ceiling:
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| Previous Design Wall, No Visible Screws/Washers, Smooth Surface With No Holes |
(Those are the FrankenWhiggish Rose blocks on the wall in the above photo, the one I'm stitching rosebuds to currently. Eleven years later, still not finished...)
Here's another shot where you can see more of the design wall itself, with the beginnings of the kaleidoscope blocks for Anders' high school graduation quilt:
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| Previous Design Wall Covered in Bump Interlining, No Visible Screws |
I finished that kaleidoscope quilt for Anders in 2021, so I'm noticing that the original design wall held up really well and still looked as good as new after eight years of being up on the wall in constant use. I really liked how that English Bump stuff looked great and was also functional. When I had to, I could run one of those tape lint roller brushes across the surface of the design wall to remove any dust, dog fur, and stray threads between projects, and it didn't hurt the interlining fabric at all, just raised the nap nicely so the next quilt blocks would stick to it even better.
So my idea of saving money and just using the quilt batting I had on hand turned out to be a terrible plan, and Bernie's idea of saving the drywall with big screws and washers wasn't a win, either. We are sharing the responsibility for the giant eyesore in our hallway (although I keep hearing my husband mumbling things under his breath like "I hated this idea from the beginning" and "I didn't want to put it there in the first place." Ah, the joys of marriage, am I right?!
The English Bump I used in 2013 was 100% cotton, purchased wholesale from some workroom supply or trade source. Table felt drapery interlining is a similar product that I might have substituted, but I didn't find either option online at Joann Fabrics. Then I tried Amazon on a whim, remembering that Amazon bought out Fabric.com some years back. Bingo! I found Bump Drapery Interlining by the yard, in white or natural, and I ordered 6 yards of the White bump because the white "goes" with the color scheme in my house better than ivory would. However, after placing the order I noticed that the Natural color is a 70/30 Cotton/Poly blend, but the White bump seems to be 70/30 Poly/Cotton with much less cotton in it. I hope that doesn't affect the performance features I need, as I've heard someone somewhere saying that quilt blocks "stick" better to cotton batting or flannel than they do to polyester. Fingers crossed that this stuff works and looks pretty. The plan is to apply it right over top of the batting, covering up all those ugly screws and washers, and use one of those paint scraper tools to tuck the edges of the interlining fabric around the sides of the foam boards. Bump interlining is much more stable and fabric-like than quilt batting, since it's intended to be a loose middle layer of hanging drapery panels and it can't stretch out of shape during the years the drapery panels are hanging at the window, and it's a lot denser than batting and thicker than regular flannel drapery interlining, so I'm hoping the big, ugly washers won't show through the new fabric covering. Fingers crossed; it won't get here until August 22nd.
*SIGH*
-- But at least I HAVE A DESIGN WALL AGAIN! That's HUGE progress! :-)
I'm linking up with all of my favorite linky parties, listed below:MONDAY
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Musings at Songbird Designs
TUESDAY
To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt
WEDNESDAY
Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication
Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter
THURSDAY
Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
FRIDAY
Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More
Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts
Off the Wall Friday at Nina Marie Sayre
Beauty Pageant at From Bolt to Beauty
TGIFF Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday, rotates, schedule found here: TGIF Friday
SUNDAY
Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué
Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework
Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts
I have plenty of walls in my home that would be great design walls areas, but my sewing room is in the basement with all the large walls currently covered with other things. I am sorry that your design wall did not turn out the way you intended. It does look nice with the quilt blocks on it.
ReplyDeleteMy design wall is a copy of the ones at Woodland Ridge Retreat in Downsville, WI. Chris Daly, the owner, generously shared how hers were constructed, and we followed her directions pretty closely. The foam core was first wrapped in cotton batting, then in a really nice flannel from Hancock's of Paducah. Screws and those big washers hold them to the wall, but the washers really don't present much of a problem. While my husband insisted on gluing masonite backs to the foam core, I don't recommend that, as they have warped somewhat over the 5 years they've been on the wall. Otherwise, I really love how they turned out. They're not as extensive as those at Woodland Ridge, but they are far superior to those I've had in the past. (The old ones are on closet door runners outside my sewing room, providing some extra design wall space. They come in handy!)
ReplyDeleteThe wall does look much better with the Deco blocks on it. It's functional enough for now. I hope you can find some time for stitching this week!
ReplyDeletePolar fleece makes a great design wall, if what you ordered doesn't work.
ReplyDeleteSorry your design wall didn't work out! I don't have any empty walls for my design wall, so I ended up some years ago using a roll-up shade covered with felt. It hangs over a closet door. It isn't the most convenient or effective, but it's better than. nothing!
ReplyDeleteCreative grid flannel is wonderful for creating design walls! I’ve used it in two homes, and it has been up 13 years in my current home and still looks and works great!
ReplyDeleteFor my wall we wrapped blue insulation boards in flannel. I taped the flannel to the back really good with duct tape. we attached the boards to the wall with nails and then put a board across the bottom and the top to help hold them in place - mine fits he entire wall though and is tightly in place - if you want photos let me know
ReplyDeleteI like your design wall very much. I think the neutral color is fine without anything, but wow does it help show off a collection of quilt blocks. As to the snaps, if you don't like the look I would think you could cover them with batting, or fabric, just as if they were a button designed to be covered in fabric.
ReplyDeleteHourray for the good news!! Well, sorry for the bad one... I hung mine with numerous Command hooks (a lot, like one every 8 inches), and covered it with polar fleece. The joints between the 3 panels are covered, and it's a nice smooth surface. J'espère que ta solution va marcher.
ReplyDeleteSorry it didn't turn out quite as hoped. I guess as Bernie said, you'll "have" to keep quilt blocks on it. Oh the horror - having to make quilt blocks to keep him happy :-)
ReplyDeleteThose big washers are to prevent the screw heads from pulling through the insulation board. I suggest getting a paint pen for the washers and screws. After trying various things like tape and nail polish to mark cables and connectors at my prior job, I finally found Sharpie markers worked well. It didn't rub or chip off plastic or metal bits, and it showed up well even on black.
Thanks for the warning about removing the industrial velcro from drywall. When I read you used it on your original wall, I thought I'd find some as my panels are leaning against the wall, no fastener. Oh well, the slight backward lean helps keep blocks and quilt tops on it.
I forgot to say - Now I'm not sure I want to fasten the panels to the wall. That little gap at the bottom between wall and panel comes in handy for storing the little folding table and extra cutting mats.
ReplyDeleteHow frustrating that the new design wall isn't working out well. I have a design wall in my sewing room, but I have trouble reaching very high - mostly because I'm not very tall. LOL
ReplyDeleteI used Hobbs Heirloom batting for my design wall. The blocks barely stuck to the batting. If I wanted them to be there more than 15 minutes, I had to pin them to the wall. A year ago, I ordered a white stand alone king sized flat flannel sheet on Amazon. (Turns out the sheet was from Land's End.) I simply pinned the flannel sheet over the top of the batting layer. The sheet covered up the screws attaching the design wall to the studs. The flannel sticks to the blocks sooo much better than the batting. It looks clean and nice and also covers the ridge between the two sheets of foam insulation.
ReplyDeleteOverall I am very happy with my adaptation of the flannel sheet. If you decide not to take down the sheets you have up already, you could either use your Bump fabric and just pin it over the batting you already have, or if it doesn't perform to your liking, you might try the flannel sheet like I did.
Sounds like you have a plan to revise your design wall so both you and Bernie will be happier with it. In the meantime, I'm loving what is displayed there!
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't look so bad, but it is much prettier with all the blocks up on it. Hope your quick fix works and it looks much neater after wards.
ReplyDeleteThe prettiest design wall is soon covered with threads and looks horrible in pictures. It is not about how IT looks but how it helps you design the quilt. I wouldn't dwell upon it.
ReplyDeleteIt's looking great with all your blocks on it though! And such a useful thing to have in the sewing room. I need to use a step stool to reach the top of mine, I guess I'm short!
ReplyDeleteLove the blocks on your design wall! How about switching to a cordless vacuum so you don't miss the outlet. My design wall, made similar to yours, isn't attached to the wall, just leans up against the wall. I have had to move it a couple times but it usually just stays put for now. Best wishes for your design wall project!
ReplyDeleteSo sorry your design wall didn't work out as planned, but hopefully the fix you ordered will improve things. Until then, seeing your Scandi Deco on display is wonderful. Thanks for sharing on my weekly show and tell, Wednesday Wait Loss.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.inquiringquilter.com/questions/2024/08/21/wednesday-wait-loss-394
Mine is foam insulation board covered with Warm & White. The batting has sagged a bit over time, but it's behind the longarm so it doesn't bother me. We attached the foam board to the wall with tons of Command picture hanging strips and it hasn't budged. Not planning to move ever again, so I didn't have to worry about the walls. I do have an outlet in mine; we just cut a hole and wrapped the batting into it. Sorry yours didn't turn out like you hoped. Keep it covered in blocks and it will look pretty.
ReplyDeleteOutlets are overrated. :) Much better to ignore such trivial matters and position art and design walls along a site line, the way they do galleries. The art deco blocks dresses your wall up nicely. Fingers crossed the new yardage is an improvement. The SEDOSO affixed my studio with two decorative, wooden hooks at the top. Hold your hand palm side down and crook your index finger to understand the shape. The top of the design wall slides through the hook. I think he added a slim wedge between the hook and the design wall to tighten the gap. Works great and fits our decor. This is "our" third iteration thanks to two moves. The design has only improved.
ReplyDeleteYour design wall looks great with your blocks on it, Rebecca! I can see where you would prefer it to be centered, but you never know when you might need that plug, I guess! The last one I made with foam insulating panels, I used a flannel backed table cloth and taped to the back. It would be better to screw it to the wall, but this way I can move it around if I need to. I hope you get everything just like you want it ... before you move again!! Thanks for sharing with us at Monday Musings! Have a great week!
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