Mini Design Board Tutorial...

I'm excited to show you how 

I make my design boards 

that I told you about in my

last post!

I made 6 of them that

 measure 10" x 10" to use 

when making my 6" blocks...

of course you can make 

as many as you want and 

in any size according 

to the projects that

 you are currently working on.

 I have several sizes that 

I use all the time...

including ones that are as large 

as the foam board that I use 

to make them with.

You can get foam core board at any office supply store and usually most department, grocery and drug stores sell them too. They are with the poster board.

I got these at Walmart....Elmers brand...2 in a package that each measure 20" x 30".

They are about 1/4" thick which is great for the mini boards.

I can get six 10" x 10" mini boards out of one foam board....10 x 10 is the perfect size for the 6" blocks used in the Farmers Wife quilt.

I use my rotary cutter and ruler to cut them to size....but this is the important part so listen up!...

I use my OLD DULL BLADE that I have saved

just for this reason.

I would suggest that you never use a new rotary blade because it will certainly be an old one by the time you finish!...LOL

I simply measure and cut just like I do with a piece of fabric...but then I turn it over and make a cut on the other side in the same place as well.

After cutting from both sides...it easily snaps apart:)

Continue cutting your board into the sizes desired.

I use my paper scissors to trim off any foam that sticks out from the edge.

This is also a good way to use up small pieces of leftover batting.

I use thin batting made of 100% cotton or a blend of 80% cotton/20% poly.

Either would work for this project.

Lay your foam board down on your batting to use as a guide and cut your batting about 1" bigger than your board all the way around.

Using a hot glue gun, begin on one side and place a line of glue on the board ...

and glue the batting down.

The extra batting should hang over the edge.

Place your glue close to the edge but not right on it so that when you

press the batting down...

 the hot glue doesn't run down the sides:)

Glue all the way to the corners of one side...and then glue the batting down on the opposite side, pulling the batting as you go to make sure it fits smoothly.

It will look like this with 2 sides glued down. Now continue and glue the batting to the remaining edges of the foam board.

I only glue batting on one side of the foam board. The other side remains as is:)

After all four edges are glued down and the glue is completely cool...I use my Gingars and trim the batting even with the edges.

Easy-peasy don't ya think?!...I think a design board is a very useful tool besides being inexpensive and sew simple to make:)....I love them!

You can use the design boards just like this or you can make them fun and cute by covering the edges with fabric.

My motto is...if it's worth making...it's worth making it cute!!

Tomorrow I will show you how to cover the edges....so get your boards finished today so that you will be ready to roll!

Just so you know...you will need a

2 1/2" x  Width of Fabric strip for each

 10 x 10 mini design board.

You can see how I finish my design board edges with the fabric strip by clicking

HERE.

So I'll type at ya tomorrow....in the meantime...have fun making your boards and be careful not to burn your fingers!

xx

Lori