A Design Wall for Every Quilter’s Budget and Space

Are you a quilter who wants a design wall for your quilt room or sewing space, but simply don’t have room (or budget) for one? Karie Dynan’s alternative design wall may be the solution to your problem.

Karie Dynan is a pattern tester for Scrap-Bag designs, as well as an award winning quilter. Out of necessity, Karie came up with this design wall solution. created with a common hardware store tension rod, safety pins and quilt batting. You can create this design wall to fit any window or door you have available in your quilting space.

“I needed a place to design a quilt for one of my kids.  I didn't have anymore wall space (or floor space) to set up a design wall.  I decided to buy a curtain rod and pin a piece of cotton batting to it.  When I am not using it as a design wall it slides over to the side so we can still use the door.  Even if there are blocks on it it can still slide over to open the door,” says Karie.

Karie adds, “I bought a tension rod that fit inside the molding of the door frame.  The cotton batting is as wide as the door and I used safety pins to make a rod pocket to slip the rod through, then I just put it the tension rod in the door molding.  One of the best parts is that if I need the batting all I have to do is unpin it and I can use it, I can always get more cotton batting.”

Karie says any quilt batting – or even felt fabric – will have the same results. Quilt blocks stick to the makeshift design wall on their own – no pins or adhesive sprays necessary.

Karie has been quilting for approximately 15 years. She started by making really simple quilts for her children that they could use to snuggle up in and “my quilting career has just spiraled from there.” In addition to being a pattern tester, Karie is also a long arm quilter.

Karie’s handy husband added a 25 x 16 addition onto their home for a dedicated sewing room for her.  Karie says the space is still not big enough.  “ I guess the more room you have, the more room you need.”   So her husband came to her rescue yet again, and converted a garage into a longarm quilting studio.  “My husband did a fantastic job at remodeling it for me.  As you can tell I have a very understanding husband.”

You can contact Karie at:

Karie’s Quilting
Longarm Quilting Services
Elk River, MN 55330
Email Karie