If you were following me on social media yesterday, you may have seen the pictures of my design board. Which I made. All by myself. With my husbands staple gun. While he’s away. I have no space to lay out quilt blocks. I could use the floor, but I have children who don’t look where they’re walking. In the old house, I had a huge 6’ x 6’ shelf (from Ikea) with a curtain rail (also from Ikea) screwed along the top. It came with little clips which held the fabric. I could hang my batting and use that space as a design wall, but now I don’t have that luxury. So I’ve wanted a design wall for the longest time – and finally made one of sorts. It’s not a wall, but it’s a board. I have to admit that it wasn’t rocket science – but I took great satisfaction in using the staple gun. I’d never used one before and had no idea how to even load it, but with persistence comes victory – right? I bought a large white canvas from the dollar shop. My canvas measures 30” x 40”. There was a larger one there, but I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to get it home, so this size was good enough for the job at hand. I then sent my husband a text message asking where I could find the staple gun. He was very good with his instructions and led me into the garage, into his blue tool box and into the second drawer in the bottom section. It was the first time I’d inspected his tool box. It’s a mix between electric and royal blue. It is quite shiny. It has lot of drawers. A lot of space. And I think it’s seriously under utilized. Now, if a quilter had that amount of drawers and spaces, we’d have them crammed full of bits and pieces without batting an eyelid. So anyways, where was I. Oh yes, my Design Board… I got a large piece of batting and made sure it would cover the whole front and fold back enough that I could staple it into the wooden frame. It was then a matter of going around and pulling the batting quite tightly, but still ensuring it was straight-ish. I didn’t want to pull it too firmly on one side and then realise that it wasn’t going to cover the other side – know what I mean? And that is basically it. About 5 minutes of work and I have a lovely Design Board to use when creativity strikes. It is currently filled with Dresden Plate blocks and Wagon Wheel Blocks. As you can guess, I’ve been playing with my wedge ruler. Do you have a Design Wall or Design Board? How did you make yours?
