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Thursday, April 4, 2013

How to Use Your Design Wall

Years back, I never used a design wall.  I might sketch out a design on graph paper or in my sketchbook, but then I pretty much just went with it and constructed as close to what I'd drawn as I could.  It certainly is possible to get a good result from that... but it's kind of hit or miss.  It's much more effective to use a design wall.

Your design wall can simply be a piece of batting that you pin up on a wall anywhere you have some space to step back from it (preferably at least 8-12 feet or 3-4 meters) and be able to look at your design as it progresses.


First try- lower left seems a bit heavy with the
dark backgrounds
The change for me came when I started taking a Design series - classes for quilters that taught you the basic fundamentals of design.  Our teacher always said "Make visual decisions Visually."  In other words, you have to actually look at something to see if it's going to work, rather than just thinking it will work.

Tonight it was time to put my Salsa blocks all together.  So, up they went on the design wall.  I arranged them, then stepped back and took a look (and a picture).

I then rearranged them several times, each time checking to see how I liked the arrangement.
I like having the two red backgrounds on opposite corners

Looking through a reducing glass or at a photograph can also help you get a sense of how well the design will work from afar.

After determining the placement of the blocks, I then had to decide which fabic I was going to use for the sashing.  To do this, I pinned different pieces of fabric up and put the blocks on top, stepped back and looked at the overall effect.

The green fabric to the right is bold and seemed like a good prospect, but when I tried out the black with red/yellow/orange batik, I think I found a winner!
Salsa blocks with sashing complete
Next step will adding batting/backing and freemotion quilting of the sashing.

Make sure to check back this weekend for our first Design Wall Weekend Blog Link-up Party!


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One of the best places to learn FreeMotion Quilting: Leah Day's FreeMotion Quilting Project
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Location: Bellevue, WA, USA

11 comments:

  1. Glen QuiltSwissyApril 4, 2013 at 11:28 PM

    Fabulous choice. How does it fee to be this close to a finish?

    And you are right. I could not work without a design wall. I have foam board tacked up on my wall. I really need to cover it with batting, put it works OK with a lot of pins!!!!

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    Replies
    1. Christina Fairley EricksonApril 6, 2013 at 5:39 AM

      Relief! I'm getting close to the deadline, but I'm ahead of the game and don't feel frantic that I'm not going to get done for once! Thanks for coming by. :)

      Delete
  2. Kelly VetchApril 5, 2013 at 5:57 AM

    I die for these salsa blocks! Everything about them is beautiful and inspiring and makes me want to eat healthier ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. SallyApril 5, 2013 at 10:40 AM

    So life-like yet artistic with their individual design backgrounds. Really lovely. I also like your choice of sashing. Now to chop them up and MAKE the salsa!! (figuratively speaking, of course LOL!!)
    Sally

    ReplyDelete
  4. Susan at TheBoredZombie.comApril 5, 2013 at 12:24 PM

    What a great idea and beautiful execution! The design wall is a good tip.

    ReplyDelete
  5. claudiaApril 5, 2013 at 5:39 PM

    Great looking piece. You really nailed the sashing fabric!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christina Fairley EricksonApril 6, 2013 at 5:41 AM

      Thanks, Claudia. I tried a lot of other fabrics than just the two shown above and I think this one embodies the "salsa" theme.

      Delete
  6. JenniferApril 6, 2013 at 4:59 AM

    Christina, I really love this piece. I saw the chili pepper earlier and loved the stitch work in it. It sounds like you and I do our designing the same way - design walls, photos, reducing glass.
    I made a portable design wall (Here's how: http://quiltsbyjen.ca/how-to-make-an-inexpensive-portable-design-wall/)) that I take to classes and workshops and then my husband picked up some pvc pipe at home deport and made me a great big design wall for my studio. I usually use it horizontally, but can rotate it vertically if I'm working on something longer. What's great about it is that I can lean it backwards just a little bit and it really helps prevent the pieces falling off.
    I wrote a how-to post in December here: http://quiltsbyjen.ca/how-to-make-a-design-wall/.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christina Fairley EricksonApril 6, 2013 at 5:38 AM

      Thanks, Jen- I'm going to add a link to your post on how to make a design wall on my Design Wall Weekend! Wonderfully instructive (and I like how you show the price tags of each of the components!

      Delete
  7. Richard HealeyApril 25, 2013 at 10:02 PM

    Thank you for Linking Up to LAFF.

    Richard and Tanya Quilts
    Richard and Tanya Quilts on Etsy

    ReplyDelete
  8. teresa bowenMay 2, 2013 at 2:22 AM

    Thank you for sharing these creative and amazing designs with us! I'm looking for the best design for my new business next week and I heard that website design columbia sc is one of the best in terms of designing.

    ReplyDelete

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