{fancy nancy portable quilt design boards inspired by lori holt}

First, 100% credit goes to Lori Holt of Bee In My Bonnet for her great idea to make smaller, portable design boards to use during quilt block design and construction.

This is my Fancy Nancy version using basting spray and Duck tape to construct my boards.

Materials needed -
Foam core board (use your coupon at Hobby Lobby, Michaels or Joanns)
Basting spray (I like 505 spray), glue gun or craft glue
Duck Tape - it comes in a wide variety of patterns (use your coupon at Hobby Lobby, Michaels or Joanns)
Batting (great use for all of those odd scraps)
Cutting mat, ruler, pencil and scissors

With your quilting ruler as your guide, cut your foam core board to size.  You can use a rotary cutter with an old blade, a sharp knife or exacto knife.  Just be sure to have your cutting mat underneath your board.  I have found 15" squares to be very useful.  I did make one board using the whole piece of foam core for those really large quilt blocks.  If you do teeny, tiny piecing you could make a smaller board.  Make what you'll use.  There is no "wrong" size.

Now cut a piece of batting 1/8" smaller than your board.  If your board is 15" square, cut your batting 14 7/8" square.  I like doing this for two reasons.  First, I have found it much easier to cut your batting first rather than try to trim it flush to the board after it's glued.  And second, cutting your batting slightly smaller gives you a sharp edge when you apply your Duck Tape.



On the "back" side of your board, measure in 3/4" and draw a pencil line on all four sides.  This give you the perfect amount of Duck Tape on both sides of the board.

Take your board outside and spray the whole "front" side of your board (the side without pencil markings) with basting spray.  Or you can use a thin layer of craft glue or your glue gun glue around the edges to secure all four sides of your batting to your board.

Secure your batting to the board.

Flip your board over to the wrong side and line up a piece of Duck Tape just a hair beyond your pencil line.  Make sure that it extends about an inch on both sides.




Turn your board over and bring the Duck Tape to the front and press with your fingers to secure.  On either end squeeze the overlapping edges together and cut next to the board.




Repeat on the opposite side.




On the two remaining sides you will do the exact same thing EXCEPT this time you will notch the tape that extends on the BACK side of the piece.  This will allow you to fold the tape back on itself and will give you a clean corner.

Sadly, I have to report that the Duck Glitter Tape was a huge disappointment.  It did NOT have the same "stick" as the other designs.  I ended up having to go back and glue my corner pieces.  I'll use my one Fancy Nancy Glitter Duck Tape board but I won't use the glitter tape on any others.  Duck Tape, I had such high hopes . . .

This version of design boards does not require an iron.  I think my dislike for the ironing part of quilting harkens back to my childhood days when everything was cotton and so everything needed ironing (today it doesn't seem to matter as much if things are ironed but I still love the smell of my ironed pillowcases and the look of a well pressed dress shirt).

I spent many an hour seated at my Mom's Ironrite (it probably wasn't that often but it sure seemed like it!) ironing pillowcases and imagining that they were the curtains being raised on "Let's Make A Deal" or "Queen For A Day" to reveal the Grand Prizes.  Don't you love the sales pitch?!?  The end of "home's last drudgery!"