Hopefully in the next month I’ll be updating my design walls for the studio so that I can expose the electrical sockets and make them floor to ceiling.
I’ll make sure to document the process to be included in the tutorial.
I use two types of design walls. The grey one above is insulation board wrapped in flannel (tutorial here).
I’m sure none of you have more than one project you work on at a time, but if you do the other is a layered system (tutorial here) that allows you to roll things up and keep them in place so that you can work on what’s underneath or take it for travel. This system is also perfect for those of you in small spaces since it can be rolled up and stashed somewhere like under a bed.
Design walls aren’t an essential tool in everyone’s creative process, but I do talk with my students about it being number one for mine. I like to step back and see how things are getting along. I encourage students to take photos of their project’s progression and even when they think they’ve got it perfect to take everything down and rearrange it. This is how new ideas might develop. In Quilting Modern we talked about not being ‘married’ to what’s on on your design wall, and in a workshop Jacquie and I taught together one of our students joked, “You’re just sleeping together.” That quote has stuck.
I’ve developed some tricks along the way when it comes to using the design wall and the one I utilize the most is not sewing things together, but rather use bits of scraps pinned up to audition color or placement.
I now have a bowl of various 90 degree triangles for this task. Like so.
I have the same with strips. This system does add to the amount of scraps, but I’m good with that. I can’t tell you the number of times something has been all sewn together for me to realize I should have changed out something dead center of the quilt.
Happy Monday Peeps.
Hope you and your design wall are finding some time to sleep together:)
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