I have been looking for fabric for the design wall and have pretty much decided on felt, at least as a temporary solution. I found a site that, I thought, sold it for $4.75/yard. It turned out to be $4.75/ quarter yard! It’s partially wool, so I guess that makes sense, but it was disappointing as I had to go back to the drawing board.
There are a number of sites that sell different varieties of felt, including Joann, which sells 72″ wide, but only in a 10 yard bolt! I need 3 yards, but may get the 10 yard bolt if I can’t find it for less. I found one site that I thought would work, then the shipping was outrageous! I can’t win, it seems.
While I took a break from the frustrations of not being able to go to Britex and get real help, I decided to test the stickiness of different types of felt. I bought some wool felt when I visited Pioneer Quilts with Amanda, or another time I went there. I also have some small pieces of acrylic felt. I pinned them to my design wall (even the fabulous Quiet Please on my small design wall won’t hold the weight of felt) and then stuck some plaid pieces to it on Wednesday. They are still up there and not even peeling, so I think felt will work as an option.
The design wall I’ve been using for over a decade is one of those vinyl tablecloths with the fleece back. My Mom had used one of those for years and suggested it. They’re dirt cheap (I think I got mine at Joanns for $5 or so). I used 3M clips to hang it to my wall. The fleece side easily holds quilt blocks—I’ve often had them up there for weeks while I was waiting for the time to get back to a project. Someday I need to make myself a large design wall on a foam board that could be folded up and stored, as my current design wall isn’t big enough for anything larger than a throw quilt all at once.
I found this in a 3 yard piece at Amazon, it only comes in charcoal.
https://smile.amazon.com/Polymat-Charcoal-Backed-Multipurpose-Nonwoven/dp/B07MNXTT9V/ref=sr_1_60?dchild=1&keywords=felt&qid=1590331423&sr=8-60