Mobile design wall

One of my current projects is a wedding gift quilt for my youngest brother and his new wife. He and she are fairly "contemporary" compared to my more "traditional" leanings in terms of style. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone when I chose a quilt design for them. I decided to go with a hexagon kaleidoscope-style quilt and chose the book "One Block Wonder" by Maxine Rosenthal.

The construction of a hexagon-based quilt like this is done with the hexagons in halves--so to layout a design, you need a lot of space! The design "wall" in my "studio" (ha ha! my sewing space is modest to say the least, but I've been told that I should think of it as a studio if I want to aspire to creating some great quilts) couldn't come close to providing enough room, so I came up with the idea of making a portable, mobile design wall!

I recently got a photographer's-type backdrop frame that I use for photographing my quilts. I made a large (81" wide by 96" long) flannel "wall" that I backed with some "why-did-I-buy-this?" fabric from my stash. You can see the top of the flannel is right at ceiling level. I have some sample hexagons on the flannel to test it.

I am using small spring clamps (from Menards) and elastic strips (which are tied to the vertical poles of the frame) to help hold the flannel taut.

Stay tuned for updates on the wedding quilt--I am a little apprehensive about how it will turn out, but my fingers are crossed!!