The Wall

We don't need no education

We don't need no thought control

Oops! Sorry, wrong wall.  The wall I want to share with you today is the design wall in my sewing studio.  I put it together and DH installed it for me and I love it. 

I started with two 4' X 8' sheets of 1/2" foam insulation board.  This is the kind used in home construction and available at the home improvement store  I cut 6" off the vertical measurement of one of the boards making it 42" wide then attached the two boards to each other for one big piece of foam.  Now getting the two boards to stay together was a challenge.  First I glued the edges together.  That worked okay but wasn't perfect.  Next I stapled the two boards together over the glue seam.  That worked a little better but it still needed help.  Finally I put duct tapeover the glue seam and the staples.  The duct tape did the trick though the board was still awkward to raise off the floor where I worked on it.

Next I seamed together two 45" widths of white flannel that were 3 yards long.   I cut one panel in half verically and sewed the halves on each side of one 45" wide panel.  Then I laid a cheap polyester queen size batting on the floor and laid the board on top of the batting.  The batting was pulled tight around the board and stapled on the back.  I repeated the process using the flannel panels pulling the flannel as tight as possible.

DH then attached 1" X 4" boards to the wall where the board is installed.  We then attached Velcro to the boards and the back of the design board.  DH was careful to align the Velcro on the wall with the Velcro on the design board. Using Velcro allows me to easily remove and re-cover the board when necessary or take the board down and move it somewhere else.  I also use the board for a photo backdrop so the seperation between the board and the wall allows me to change out backdrops easily.  Once the board was up he did use a small finishing nail in each corner to help secure it to the boards. 

As with any project there is something I would do differenly if I do it again.  With this board I would certainly use either clear or white duct tape so it won't show through the cover fabric.  The flannel I used  was $1.00 a yard sale flannel from JoAnn's and it has a lot of stretch to it.  I will likely re-cover the board with felt later.

 

Here is the finished product and I love it.  It is the biggest design wall I have ever large enough lay out a queen size quilt. 

Okay, I know I really neglected this blog for a very long time. But it’s a new year and I want to give it a go again. One thing that kept me busy was the construction of my new sewing room. We built a three car detached garage with a bonus room above the garage. The bonus room is my sewing studio and it is a beauty. Seven hundred square feet of nothing but sewing space plus another one hundred fifty square feet of closet storage. I can’t believe it’s mine.

I’ve been moving in a bit at a time . Most all of my sewing stuff and fabric has been in storage for the past four years. It’s good to get it out and know what I have so that I stop buying duplicates because what I need is packed away. What you see here is the tip of the iceberg. That 150 SF of closet . . . well, let’s just say it has certainly come in handy.



The room is getting organized and looking more like my room. I need some more furniture – shelves, chests, chairs, cabinets – but all in good time. My favorite thing is the fabulous design wall we made. I will write more about that next time.