How to Make A Design Wall

For all us quilters and sewists out there, having a design wall in our studio is really a must.

Traditionally, a design wall is a large vertical wall or board that is covered in flannel or cotton batting. The batting/flannel clings to fabric, so you can lay out your quilt block arrangement and step back to get a good look as you work. They're also very helpful for maintaining a layout as you sew, so you don't get confused as to what goes where.

All of that said, I don't have a huge wall in my apartment to cover with batting. What's a girl to do?

This design area is only about 33" x 33". It hangs on the wall over my sewing machine.

Luckily, there are lots of ways to make a design wall, and frankly, anything's better than nothing on this front, so get creative and make your space work for you.

My design wall was super easy to make.

1. Cut a piece of cardboard the size of your wall space (or slightly smaller). 
2. Cut a piece of flannel or cotton batting about 4" larger all around than the cardboard (no need to be precise on this). Don't use polyester batting or a batting with a high loft because your fabric won't adhere to it as well. 
3. Wrap the flannel around the cardboard and tape or staple it so it is taut. 
4. Nail the covered board to the wall, and away you go! 

You can put up lots of these in any available space you might have: over the ironing board, over the sewing machine, skinny and tall next to the closet—get creative!

 Kelly is proud to be an editor for F+W Craft. She's also a quilter, blogger, sister, daughter, best friend, sewist, fabric hoarder, travel enthusiast, unpaid theatre critic, tap dancer, piano player and cupcake baker from Cincinnati, Ohio. Kelly loves all things quilted and stitchy, and enjoys sharing her creative process here and at Stitchy Quilt Stuff.