organising....

My design wall is a piece of batting thumb tacked to the wall. I then pin blocks to the batting as I go. For UFOs etc, I was lucky enough to get several boxes alike at my last job and used those. I've also used large zip lock bags and clipped skirt/pant hangers that came from Wally World, etc and hang the projects in a spare closet. To store blocks, pizza boxes work great. Find a restaurant supply place and buy them in bulk. The initial cost may seem a bit high but they flatten and store with ease. HTH

I bought my shoebox size covered plastic storage tubs at the Dollar Store-

20 tubs at $1 each. They work very well for things like the black binder clamps, rotary cutters and blades, Velcro, etc. I use one tub for each so they aren't overfilled and each has a removable label in case I change the contents or add to it. I use a hunk of Warm & White batting for my design wall- it's tacked to the wall. For shelving in the storage cabinet, I'd use cut to order prices of MDF from Lowe's or Home Depot. If you have a saw, you can buy ready made and finished shelving and cut it to size. Then use narrow pieces of wood or L-brackets or something similar to hold the shelves in position.

Leslie & The FOUR Furbabies in MO.

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My design wall is a cheap pine frame which hubby put together, 6' x

6.5' high. I bought some cheap thick poly batting, and stapled gunned it to the frame. I then joined two lengths of brushed cotton and stapled that over the top. For most work it doesn't require pinning until a top is all sewn together or the window is open with a breeze playing havoc with my little fabric pieces . It works wonderfully and is a great tool for quilt design. Oh, the pine frame just 'sits' on two screws driven into high into the wall (not kitten-proof).

Cheers Bronnie

My design wall is a sheet of cheap leftover paneling. It's held against the wall with some sort of strange looking clips DH found. It is covered with very expensive 'made for design wall covering'. It's a dud. Nice to have the grid marking on it but nothing sticks to it. I though time and wear would scruff the texture and it would improve. It did not. The first cover for the sheet of paneling was stretchy terry. That held well but didn't have a grid. I love having a design wall and really need it. It probably wouldn't kill me to put a grid on a batting but it does sound like a mighty boring job. Polly

I have tried many different types of design wall, but like the one I now have best. I have one of those long bar type quilt hangers (two narrow wall length strips of wood, one on top of the other and held together with large decorative screws). Instead of hanging a quilt, I have a heavy flannel sheet (LL Bean). In the hem at the bottom, I inserted wooden dowels to make it hang straight and flat. No need to pin blocks.

Betty in WI

I use batting put up with thumbtacks. It's been 5 years and the batting is pretty thready but the tacks are still holding.

I use both "sweater" and "shoebox" sized plastic boxes to hold WIPs, the size of the project determining the size of the box. (I can't imagine anyone actually storing sweaters in those sweater boxes. They'd take up so much space!)

Nann in northeasternmost Illinois

My design wall is batting. There's a wooden rod at the top of the wall that I'm allowed to stick things in. The batting is clothes pinned to hangers. The hangers go on nails in the rod. The folds are kept in place by painters' tape. The batting is stuck with threads, but it works.

Large works in progress go in paper grocery bags. Works in progress that are collections of blocks go in big flat plastic bags.

I try hard to keep the number of works-in-progress down to a minimum. If I need a whole organizing system for them, I have too many. This goes back to what we were talking about the other day about throwing ugly tops in the dumpster behind the supermarket. If I haven't finished a work-in-progress for many years and it's taking up space, there's a reason. If I sweat over it a little, I can figure out the reason. For me, it's usually that I like the way it's coming out and am scared to continue for fear of ruining it. I have to get over it! I get paralyzed by good work more than bad. The other reason is that I don't like the way it's coming out but don't want to think about that dumpster.

--Lia

My design wall is a 2' X 2' flannel covered foam core board and I store projects in ziplock bags.

This is one of the good things about making only miniature/small quilts.

LOL Cindy

Here in a dry climate there is lots of static in the air. Maybe your air too humid to get that effect? I don't have the fancy gridded stuff though. I have a piece of Hobb's 80/20 batting over a piece of solid 1/2" insulation and that is on attached to a sliding closet door. The only thing I don't like about it is that lots of threads stick to the batting and it looks messy. A sticky tape roller won't get them and neither will the vacuum. taria

Polly Esther wrote:

Ya gotta hand pick 'em..only way I have figured out so far. I have the 'pulley system'.thin batting stapled to a 1X1 110" long and then another 'rod' stapled on the bottom to keep it hanging straight. I have a 2nd set of screws in the bottom board with cords running thru it so I can "lift" the bottom board....the design wall hides another set of outlets that I use every so often. It's also nice to raise the bottom when the floor gets vacuumed OR when I need to work on the 'bottom rows' and can't bend over that day.

My design wall is a piece of old paneling, 4' x 8', covered with a flannel-backed vinyl table cloth. It's held onto the wall by a strip of

2" x 4" nailed across the top which has shaker pegs sticking out of it. I use the pegs to hold baskets with extra blocks. It's permanently mounted. I'd have to spackle the holes in the sheetrock if I ever take it down.

Denise

My design wall is 1.5 yards of the gridded stuff made especially for design walls. I sewed one half of a Velcro strip to the one end of the fabric and tacked the other half to the wall. It works quite well. I think I washed the fabric before hanging it. I haven't had any problems with quilt blocks -- and entire tops -- sticking to it. There are a few photos of my sewing room at Not real recent, but nothing much has changed, except for more fabric piled around the room :)

Julia in MN

For hanging stuff, check the Dollar Store or Target/etc for hanging sweater or shoe holders. They may also have plastic shoe boxes (I know Target has them, at not a bad price ). You might also check CostCo or Sam's Club etc. for the shoe boxes and other storage options.

For the design wall... cheap is a discounted flannel backed vinyl tablecloth. (Seasonal ones go on sale at the end of the season....)Also good, felt or wide flannel (either of which can easily be washed as needed) Cotton batting also works, but is a bit more expensive. You can even use push pins to attach it to the wall if you use several of them. Some people do cover wall board or large foam core board with their stuff but that is optional.

Sounds like fun.

Pati, > Hubbie is away for the weekend, so I'm taking the plunge and trying to

I taped two pieces of heavy foam board together and covered with flannel that I had. I tried to use the gridded stuff, what a waste. The flannel I have works fine and I ended up with a 36X42" design wall, good enough for my purposes.

For the design wall, my Guild just tapes up a flannelbacked vinyl tablecloth for our monthly exchanges. Our blocks stick with no problem.

A friend of mine went to HD or Lowe's and got two 4' X 8' sheets of foam insulation. I don't think she covered them with anything and uses pins to hold the pieces. She just leans the sheets up against a wall......yes, she does a LOT of quilting!

I made a design wall using a framework of PVC pipe, with open ends at the top corners. I ran a strong twine through there and hung the frame from cuphooks at the ceiling. The "wall" itself is a huge piece of felt, with sewn channels on two sides, and fold-over edges (closed with velcro) on the other two. Fit the two closed sides with pipe first, add the second two pipes, fold over the edges tightly, and hang. It works beautifully -- Most of the time, things will stick just by themselves. Larger pieces do need to be pinned, though. It hangs on a wall in our dining room, making a nice display of works in progress.

I've got my "in progress" projects in those large clear plastic containers that spinach or other lettuces come in at the store. I keep my fabric and scraps in larger semi-clear plastic containers, stacked on bookshelves in my new "craft room," alongside the quilt books, quilting supplies, magazine articles, yarn, knitting books, knitting supplies, etc, etc. My latest joy is a tiny little tv hooked up to an old VCR/DVD player, so I can watch old movies while I sew.

Hi Anne,

I have a foam board covered with a plastic table cloth--flannel side out. I fastened it on with duct tape on the back. It has worked well for almost three years--I've dragged it to several retreats too.

Happy quilting,

Lenore

i am learning soooo much from you gals!! my sewing room is my 3 season porch converted to a 4 season sewing room. i have no spare walls as 3 of the walls are all windows. the only wall space i have has the bookshelves and an old dresser for storage on it. i made a portable "wall" out of an empty roll of table paper (like a middle of a paper towel roll but stronger and longer) then hot glued fabric and flannel wrong sides together on it after binding them together. then i added a ribbon to the middle of the open end to hold it closed, with the blocks on the flannel side when rolled up. hard to explain. wish i could get a picture to you all.

sometimes i use a white sheet and pin blocks, etc. to it and lay it on the floor.

amy in CNY