Design Wall Review

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Do you have a dedicated sewing space? Do you have a design wall in your space? Today I'm going to review the Quilt Design Wall Panels from Buryeah on Amazon. I have no affiliation with the company, and I have not been compensated for this review. This is just a detailing of my experience with them.

I was so happy to finally get a dedicated sewing space when my son moved out after college (sorry, son! love ya!) a couple years ago. I had big plans for a design wall, but I was slow to get one up. I wasn't sure what kind I wanted, and I'm not a big DIYer. I've seen people buy insulation sheets from the hardware store and wrap them in batting and flannel, and that was what I was leaning toward, but I'm not sure how tricky it is to get them installed onto the wall. I also didn't want to do too much damage to my wall.

While I was mulling this over, I ran across someone on Instagram who bought these flannel boards on Amazon. This looked like just what I needed: a super simple, done-for-me solution to my design wall!

Quilt Design Wall Board Panels (12 pcs) from Buryeah on Amazon

The Installation

So I bought the flannel tiles and set to work getting them up on my wall. And for reference, I bought two packs of 12 tiles for a total of 24 tiles. They measure 12 inches tall by 16 inches wide. With the way I have arranged them, I have a work area that measures 64 inches wide by 72 inches high.

You can watch a fun time-lapse video I made of my process here.

It was easy to install and for the first week, everything was great!

Uh Oh!

Then one day, I came in my studio and several tiles started falling off the wall. I had shut the studio door and the gust of air pushed the tiles over the edge. They were being held together by my quilt blocks (may sound strange, but the quilt blocks covering the boards added additional structural integrity--they were large blocks) and since they're flannel, they were holding each other in place. Again, may sound strange, but I realized that a board could have loosened from the wall, but was still held up by the boards surrounding it.

Well, on that day, they had had enough. Several of them tumbled down on me as I was trying to catch them. I should have filmed that. It felt like a slow motion scene in a movie. It was funny and sad all at the same time.

The problem was with my traditional Command Strips. You can see me highlight them in the video above. They just couldn't grip to the back of the boards because the boards were covered in a sort of material. It's not the same as the flannel, but it's not a smooth surface for adhesive.

The Fix

So I had to pivot. And I should have researched a bit better in the product reviews to see what was working for others. I had a few Velcro Command strips on hand, so I tested them out on one of the tiles. It was the bottom left board, so if the strips weren't working, I would know pretty soon. There was nothing around to hold it up.

My test board remained secure for several days, so I ordered a couple more packs of Velcro strips from Amazon. I probably could have saved a bit of money by buying smaller strips (that's what I used on my test piece), but I also felt like the more surface area for gripping, the better. So I bought these that are meant for heavy duty frames for art and pictures.

 

The Velcro strips are meant to be used in pairs. You stick one to the wall and the other to your piece of art. Then working together, the Velcro parts interlock with each other to keep the art adhered to the wall. But I meant to use these in a different way. I wanted the Velcro to interlock with the fabric-ish backing of the flannel tiles and then the exposed sticky part would adhere to the wall. So I felt that two strips per flannel tile would be sufficient.

The interesting thing about these Velcro strips is that they're not like the traditional hook-and-loop system that I've been used to. Rather these strips are stiff plastic pegs (really small ones) and so when you press two of them to each other, the little pegs grab hold of each other.

They remind me of those Bristle Blocks from the 80s. Do you remember those?

So I set to remounting these panels with my Velcro strips. At first I was attaching them to the board portion, just like I did with the regular Command strips. But on some of the boards, the Velcro didn't have much to grab. And I think that's because they aren't the traditional hooks you find on other Velcro.

So part way through, I started attaching them to the edges where there was flannel to grasp. This seemed to work much better. I developed a smush-and-wiggle (yes, my own term) technique where I pressed the Velcro into the flannel and wiggled it around to really nestle it in. Then I would lightly tug the edge of the strip to see if it was adhered well before I pressed the tile to the wall.

I feel good about them now. I've checked them daily to see if they're loosening, and they don't seem to be. Previously, with the regular strips, I could tap a board and see that it was loose and also hear a sticky sound which told me that the tape wasn't fully adhered. But let's talk about how well the boards perform!

How Do They Perform?

These design boards are fantastic! I've left blocks up for a full week and they don't budge. No need for pins. They cling to the flannel really well. And it's SO nice to have this space to lay out blocks and ponder designs or rearrange blocks for the best layout. I was using the floor before, and that just isn't an ideal scenario. You likely can't leave the blocks laid out on the floor for very long.

I've tried small blocks and large blocks (20 x 20) and even a whole column of a throw quilt. All pieces adhere fantastically and stay up. I especially like the option to stick my blocks to the wall after I press my seams nice and flat. As I joined my blocks into larger blocks (my go-to), I would stick them back up on the wall for safe keeping.

What is really fantastic is that leaving blocks up on the wall really inspires my creativity. Normally I would lay them out and then pack them up until I'm ready to sew them together into a top. But keeping them in view really helps spur new ideas.

Here's a short video of my latest blocks going up on the wall. This new pattern will be a freebie. Be sure to sign up for the newsletter to be alerted when it's released!

 

As I mentioned above, my workspace is 64 x 72 inches. Not huge, but I don't typically work on really large quilts. But we also know that quilts are a bit bigger when you lay out the individual blocks than they are when the top is finished. I did run into the issue of my blocks not all fitting on the wall. I let some of them hang off the edge about an inch or two. I found that this was not ideal as any little breeze would blow them off the wall. So I did reach for some pins if I was dealing with space issues. You can see in the pics below. But I did NOT have to pin just to keep them adhered. I do want to make that clear. This flannel has strong adherence.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, I think this is a great product. Just be sure to use the proper item to hang them on the wall. I feel that the Velcro Command strips are perfect for the job. But you can see what others are using in the product reviews. The seller recommends double-sided tape, but I have my doubts about that.

Do you have a design wall? Let me know in the comments! I've heard of some people using the back of vinyl tablecloth or even just pinning flannel to the wall. It doesn't have to be expensive. But these ready-to-hang tiles were perfect for me. And I like the idea that I can expand this, if I want at a later date, by just putting up more tiles.