Submitted by Liz M.
Do you use a certain fabric or group of fabrics to create your quilts? Or, do you use your scraps to begin your work? Do you select the pattern or the fabrics first? Every quilter does things their own way.
I am working to use some of my stash this year. As I was tidying my fabrics, I came across a yard of an Alison Glass print that I purchased because I loved it. Did I have a quilt in mind when I bought it? No, but it was blue and different than most fabrics I had. I paired it with a simple pattern by Robin Pickens, “Jubilant Song”, that uses larger scale fabrics. I originally planned to use the pattern with a red or blue background for a Christmas/Winter quilt. I wanted to pair the Alison Glass fabric with a background that wasn’t white or grey but didn’t have anything in my stash. So, off to the quilt shop I went!
I was lucky to have my small group with me as they helped me stretch outside my usual default color selections. We used the focus print to pull the rest of the fabrics. The background will be a limey green and the other two large blocks will be squares and circles in similar colors. The sashing will be periwinkle! Definitely no white or grey in this quilt!
I do not have any idea of who or where this quilt will be used but I am excited to sew with these fabrics and see what I learn!
Jen Kingwell, an Australian fabric and quilt designer, combines hundreds of fabrics in her quilts. She discusses how she pulls her fabrics and why her quilts look coherent in this short YouTube video.
Jen Kingwell YouTube VideoHow do you start your quilt projects? Pattern or fabric first? Let us know in the comments!
I tend to start with a focus fabric and then begin to pull other fabrics that are in the same color range as a color in the focus fabric. That is why we all need such large stashes. I often return to my stash several times to find punchier or edgier choices.
It was so fun getting to help pull fabrics! Thanks for the video link, too. Jen was really informative. I’m saving the video to my YouTube library for future reference. (I really hope I didn’t play the part of the “best friend” at the quilt store.)
What a great video. Love the way Jen encourages different tiers of color “matching.” I do still like shopping with friends though!!!
First of all, I can’t wait to see this quilt. I think it’s going to be stunning. Thanks for the video link, I found it very helpful since I find it very difficult to pick fabrics since I have the opportunity to work with fabric lines quite a bit and the work is done for me. It’s really a mixed bag, but I probably really do pick the pattern first.
Thanks for sharing this. I do love the fabrics you selected for you particular project. I like Jen’s approach to selecting fabrics and agree with her, the more the merrier.