Design Walls...An Adventure!

Finally Papa Toad and I have figured it out...After trying to use the flannel backs of picnic table clothes, push pins in walls, trying to deal with slanted ceilings, portable "built it and move it" types and various coverings and surfaces, I'm in love!
Papa Toad remembered making some speaker covers at our church years and years and years ago and decided to go with that technique. The boards themselves are aluminum backed foam insulation boards that you find at any DIY place, like Home Depot or Lowe's. They come in 4x8' sheets and are easily cut to size. The next step was to take 1x2" boards and built a frame within the perimeter on the back using metal L brackets at the corners. This completed frame was then attached to the insulation with a hot glue gun. From the other side of the insulation, the "front" that will hold the designs, the frame is not visible.
Next I smeared a UHU glue stick all over the "front" and laid down Pellon Fleece, wrapped it around the sides and stapled it with my mighty staple gun (be careful!!) to the back of the frame. For the final covering I used a pale, pale, pale yellow (cream color) flannel. I find it easier to see true colors on an off-white, cream color than if I used a stark white. I cut lengths of the flannel and laid each one on the Pellon (no glue needed), stretched them taut around to the back of the frame and stapled again. I used the Pellon Fleece first so that I wouldn't see any insulation brand labeling through the flannel. It also adds a nice little bit of cushion to the boards. Here's what it looks like on the back side:

Up at the top you'll see some eye screws screwed into the wood frame to hang onto a hook:

 

 When we lived in Bend, OR our walls were less textured than they are in this house and we used 3M Command Strips on Quilt Hangers with great success. We decided to give those a try again with 3M hooks using their Command Strips......Hmmmm,



Up it went......3 weeks later it slid to the floor along with a couple other quilts I'd hung....too much wall texture. So, on to a another system. Hercules Hooks! Our new best friend!!!

They're awesome! The tall side has a sharp point that you pierce through your wall board and then slide it up behind the wall board. The only part that you see on the outside is the short little hook end that you can hang a picture or in our case, those eye screws on the back of the design wall. We used one on each top corner. Voila!

Kind of hard to see but it's there. We hung two 4x8' design walls vertically next to each other. "Comfort & Joy" is shown here straddling them:

And then I I did a redo on my first older 4x4' one. Here it is just waiting for something other than a calendar and pin cushion!

We use a Hercules Hook and the "Hang It, Dang It" quilt hanger rod wherever we hang a quilt on the wall. It is a fabulous and easy systerm that involves a 3/4" adjustable metal rod that slides into the quilt sleeve. Then a 3" bracket with a nail/screw hole is clamped in the center over the sleeve. By placing that clamp in the center, the quilt balances and levels itself on the Hercules Hook. Here's how it looks with Bunny Hill's "Rabbits Prefer Chocolate".

It's a great system with nothing showing except the quilt!

Till next time, Happy Designing! And Stitchin' for the Soul!
Nadine