Batting

[anne1]

Hi everyone,
Can you tell me which batting is the best for a design wall that the blocks will stick to without pinning?
Thanks
Anne1

[Margo]

Any batting that is mostly cotton will work. So will flannel or fleece. Larger quilt blocks with some weight will still need to be pinned which it why it's nice to have the batting/flannel/fleece backed with something like foam insulation board (from a home improvement store). You can just stab a pin into the foam without having to carefully pin onto just the batting/flannel/fleece. A flannel backed vinyl tablecloth is a great portable design wall that can be rolled up and moved when necessary without too much disturbance of the patches adhered to the flannel!

[Margo]

Felt also works. I have made many much smaller boards that fit into my storage bins using foam core board or artex board, even very heavy cardstock that I use for arranging my block pieces for sewing, then transporting to the iron in another room. It helps me greatly now that I am in stash busting mode and making "scrappy" quilts. For me scrappy still means that blocks have to be planned. Some of my organizational nature will always be part of all my hobbies. There is a variety of fabric and backs used for the boards in this bin. The green is felt, a cut up puzzle roll up sheet after we no longer do puzzles.The blue backing is heavy card stock with flannel backed table cloth that I used when I made many blocks where the blocks needed to be laid out separately, one per board, in order to chain piece several blocks at a time.
Bin as it came from the shelf

Bin with the lid removed

Contents of bin