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December 7, 2008

Small Space Quilting ~ Working Wall

Quilting well and happily in confined space can be a problem. As I promised earlier, this is what I've come up with for the working wall in my 5th wheel RV. The only plain wall-space available is the door that slides closed between the bed/bath and kitchen/living area. It had a long mirror on it which I promptly removed, leaving me a space about 24" X 72".

My original intention was to do just what I did for my home working wall, glue acoustical tile down for pinnability, followed with a topping of flannel for stickability. Trouble is I couldn't find acoustical tile at any of the do-it-yourself type stores! Apparently this type of ceiling material is out of favor.

Quilters are a resourceful group and someone is always thinking up a new gadget to make our lives easier. While browsing Fabric Depot in Portland Oregon (DO NOT miss if you are ever in the area...Valhalla for quilters, I kid you not) I discovered a product called BlockButler. It looks like very thin batting that is sticky on both sides, and the inventor believes enough in her project to offers a full refund if need be. She is also wise enough to enclose a small sample in each package so you can see if the BlockButler will work in your chosen application.

In picture #2 you can see BlockButler stuck to the slider door with one side of the protective plastic still in place. One package gave me enough material to cover as high as I can reach, 2 would have covered the whole door. When I get some pennies saved up I'll buy some more to finish the slider door, and I'm thinking it might possibly work on the wall behind the slider to double my space. I'll have to try that out, see if the door will slide with blocks and sticky fabric behind. If not, at least I have a workable solution for playing with designs and thinking out loud creatively, when I'm at the farm in our RV.

The blocks on working wall currently are the very first of my One Block Wonder quilt made from my beautiful Hydrangea fabric.

Edited one month later: All the blocks were on the floor a week later. :-( I've removed the block butler and am working on a new plan...stay tuned. I do think the Block Butler would be a good solution on a closet door. It is possible that the lower temperature the 5th wheel maintains when we are not there might be the problem.

Sunday Thankies
Good humored Goats
Homemade Stew
Neatly stacked stash

4 comments:

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

clever idea - and neato blocks

BizarreQuilter said...

Ooh! I just love tools and gadgets! I wonder where we get it here....

Your one block wonders are looking really WONDERful!

Can you please post a close-up?

Loz
xx

Donna said...

I tried to comment on your newer post but it must be set up for only 3 comments. So, I found room here. I too have a stack of the "where to put these" and it's growing because I don't know what to do with them either,LOL.

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to see the finished quilt! It's promising!