flikkem

I have had flannel on mine for several years and love it.
We just used tape to secure it on the back.
I can vacuum threads off it when I needs it.

Joan in AK

Thanks again for your comments. Lots of ways to do a design board.

Onebyone

Poly batting is the best for holding blocks, even the heavy pieced blocks will stay and not fall off. I stapled a foam insulation board on the wall, and then used the yellow headed quilting pins to hold the poly batting on the board. I'm in a temp house right now and the design wall was the first thing I put up. On the hall way wall. LOL
Staples leave no damaging holes in the wall or paneling and the owner said no problem after he test the staple gun on a piece of dry wall and removed the staples. When I get moved into our new home, I will have a whole wall done with foam board over the dry wall. I don't plan on taking it down. But I do want the surface covering to be easy to change out.

QuiltnLady1

I use warm and natural over foam insulation -- 15 years and it still holds the blocks and rows.

trapmar

I buy used flannel top sheets at Goodwill to use for my display board. Works great!

phusker5

OK looks like lots of you use flannel. I am getting ready to make a flannel over styrofoam design wall. Just to test i hung up a quilt with a flannel back and tried to use it as a design wall---nothing would stick to it? Made me wonder if flannel was a good choice--any thoughts as to why my blocks wouldn't stick to the flannel?

wildyard

Has it been washed? If yes, did you use fabric softener? That might eliminate that bit of static that helps blocks cling. Was the quilt smooth and flat when you hung it? Things don't stick as well to wrinkles.
Just a couple thoughts I had about why they might not stick.

QuiltE

No specific answers re your flannel dilemma.
I tried it initially taping to a wall, as well as a piece of fleece on the wall.
The fleece one for "stick + stay-ability" hands down.

So yes, all of my design walls, from one block size up to full wall, are fleece.

cashs_mom

I use flannel, however, I do think that fleece might be better. Its hot a lot here and my sewing room is upstairs so I probably use the A/C 10 months out of the year. Where my design wall sits, there tends to be a lot of air from the A/C unit blowing and it does blow the blocks off of the flannel. At some point, I'll probably recover both pieces of insulation with fleece, but for now I just stick a pin in the ones that seem to fall off.

Peckish

I tried flannel but found that my blocks wouldn't stick. I now use W&N batting - it's very sticky, no pins needed, I can put whole quilt tops on my design wall no problem.