Unlocking the Art of Quilt Fabric Selection: Unleash Your Creativity

Unleash Your Creativity By Using a Design Prompt For Quilt Fabric Selection

I was on a journey with half-square triangles this summer in a quest for how to make the most precise points. (Spoiler alert: the precision is all in the use of nested and spinning seams!) I started a project called the Cakewalk Quilt Sampler way back in May and then decided to double down and make a second one in fall colors over the summer because it was so fun. It was such a hot summer in Texas; I was secretly hoping that making a fall quilt would usher in a bit of cooler weather. The air has finally changed, but it was a LONG summer. 

I created a design challenge for myself when I made this fall quilt. Have you ever done this? I highly recommend it to spark your creativity!

Read on for ideas to create your own design challenge and how I used my design challenge to create a cohesive set of quilt blocks by selecting a prompt that inspired my fabric selection. I'll also guide you through some other critical elements to consider when selecting fabrics for a quilt. 

Have you ever used a design prompt to select your quilt fabric? 

I stumbled upon the most beautiful vintage book published in the early 1930's about bird migration called Traveling With the Birds. I challenged myself to use each illustration as a prompt to select fabrics for each block in the quilt. I was committed to using fabrics from my stash. In my quilting journey, I have often felt that a scrappy quilt can lack cohesiveness. I wanted a lovely quilt, not something that looked like "leftovers". I was committed to using fabric I had and to use my own creativity rather than a designer's pre-set collection of fabrics. Using a design prompt helped me jumpstart my creativity and select cohesive fabrics for a stunning quilt. The inspiration from a design prompt can guide you to select a cohesive set of fabrics and a quilt that you'll be proud of. 

Train Your Eye

Let's take a closer look at how you can use a design prompt to guide you through fabric selection. My first piece of advice is to choose something that is meaningful to you as your design challenge prompt. This process helps to train your eye to select a set of cohesive fabrics by starting with something that you already love as a design prompt. 

• Don't ignore the artist inside you! Sometimes you just need a little practice.
• Spend a little extra time selecting fabrics so the end result is something cohesive, sentimental and meaningful to you or the recipient.
• I want to help you avoid getting to the end of a project and being disappointed with the end result. 

Let's take a look at my process:

The illustrations in Traveling With the Birds are by Walter Alois Webber, a well-known animal illustrator. If you are interested, you can learn more about him and his fascinating life as an illustrator here. The illustrations in this book are so gorgeous! I would love to frame some, but I also can't bear to remove them from the book which is still in excellent shape. For now it will just be a great coffee table book for the fall.

I was attracted to use Traveling With the Birds as a design prompt for a couple reasons.

• First, I love birds, so the subject was of interest. My family often says I’m easily distracted by birds and plants. Yes, I actually have a bird guide sitting by our picture window to help me identify any new little visitors to our bird feeder. If I’m not quilting and the weather isn’t unbearable, you’ll probably find me outside.
• Secondly, the colors of the illustrations are classic and slightly muted, befitting a lot of decor trends, and the coming season. The colors were essentially preselected for me by the illustrator. I loved the book, so I knew I would love a quilt with a similar color scheme. These colors fit so nicely with a vintage accessorized home, farmhouse style or cottagecore style. 

Fabric Selection Inspired by Design Prompt

Let's get down the nitty-gritty of using a design prompt.

There are coincidentally 12 pages with bird illustrations in this lovely book, and 12 blocks in my quilt, so I decided to select fabrics to represent each of the bird illustrations. I started with a Kona fat quarter bundle curated by Elizabeth Hartman for her Pond fabric collection that I've had for a couple years. The colors were similar to those in the illustrations. I selected a few of these fat quarters and I used several other fabrics from my stash to fill in the gaps to represent a bird from each illustration in the book. Elizabeth Hartman does a wonderful job of displaying fabrics on her website to help you visualize how fabrics will play off each other. Take a peek for some inspiration.... and her patterns are so unique. 

Selecting a Balanced and Attractive Color Palette

I carefully balanced lights and darks for contrast, and selected fabrics with similar saturations so that my blocks would make a cohesive quilt. The illustrations were already a cohesive group of color values, so by using a design prompt all I had to do was replicate the types of colors from the illustrations! 

The sashing used in the quilt is an out-of-print fabric by Maywood Studio called Texture Illusion. It looks just like a woven fabric! The sashing in a sampler quilt helps to anchor the blocks. You can see from the photo of my quilt top, the sashing blends away a little bit and keeps the blocks the focus of your eye. 

If you'd like a set of quick finishing instructions, you can check out my Triple Play Sampler, with three different options for creating a sample using 5-12 12.5" blocks. 

By the way, if you come across any Texture Illusion fabric snatch it up!!! With the look of a woven in 100% quilting cotton, it’s a dream to quilt with! The quilt backing I selected is a dreamy Cotton+Steel Fabric Along the Fields print called Strawberry Honey Bee by designer Loes van Oosten.

 

Are you ready to try a design challenge of your own? Here's a list of things that might inspire your creativity:

• a favorite painting (contemporary, modern, florals)
• a fabric, such as a backing fabric
• an illustration from a book
• a favorite shirt, or article of clothing 
• a treasured holiday item 
• a floral arrangement (nature is a great inspiration) 
• items of cultural significance 
• landscapes (think mountains, seaside, and seasonal changes)
• a loved one's favorite hobby (like birding)
• a baby shower theme or nursery theme 

Additional Factors Vital to Quilt Fabric Selection: 

1) Select fabrics that suit the purpose of the quilt. 

If the quilt is going to be a picnic quilt or a daily use floor quilt for a baby, select fabrics that might hide stains through pattern or color choice. Consider the type of fabric that would work best for your project too. The choices are vast from wovens to flannel, to denim, and quilting cotton. 

2) Scale and directionality are important. 

If your quilt has a lot of small piecing, consider that a large scale fabric pattern may not give you the cohesive look you desire in a quilt. A general rule of thumb is that smaller prints work better on intricate designs with smaller piecing. Large scale prints are often better suited for a border or focal part of your quilt.  

If you have a pattern with a lot of half-square triangles, or flying geese that get turned every which way, some of your prints that are directional will be upside down. This may be fine for some quilters, but it's definitely something to consider. 

3) Color Palette

Most quilt patterns look great with fabrics that have contrast value (lights, dark and medium fabrics) to show off piecing. When you find a starting point (perhaps by using a design prompt of your own) look for fabrics that vary across the range of light to dark. Keep the colors in a similar clarity value.

If you want a whole lesson on color theory on how use of color can affect the feeling you have when looking at a quilt check out this wonderful article by Jessica Stewart. There's certainly some strategy in choice of color, based on if you want your quilt to feel energetic or calm and serene.

• Selecting complimentary colors (across the color wheel from each other) will create a vibrant, energizing quilt. 
• Selecting colors next to each other on the color wheel will yield a more serene, calming quilt. 
• Consider using a fabric manufacturers color swatch card if you are curating your own fabric selection for your project. My favorite solids are Michael Miller Cotton Couture solids. They have a wonderful feel and the colors are lovely.
• Seeing the colors in person, next to a design prompt is so helpful. A computer screen often doesn't represent a true color value. If you use a certain brand of solids frequently, it's worth the investment! There's a reason why we are all drawn to those lovely fat quarter bundles. They are expertly curated by some fabulously talented artistic eyes. But, don't loose hope. You can use your stash too, if you have a good design prompt. Give it a try and you'll be training your eye while you're at it! 

Success? 

I’ve really grown fond of my fall version of the Cakewalk Quilt Sampler. I'm really happy with how using a design prompt worked out! It was just the inspiration I needed to take advantage of the fabrics I already had. This Cakewalk Quilt Sampler would be absolutely stunning to use in fall family photos in an apple orchard or the perfect accessory to transition your home decor to earthy fall colors and welcome the bounty of fall.  Using a design prompt was successful, fun, challenging, and fruitful.

Have you had success using a design prompt to select fabrics? Hopefully this guide will help you jumpstart your creativity! 

If you found this guide to fabric selection using a design prompt helpful, would you share it with someone or Pin it to save for future use? 

Lastly, I would love for you to share your own favorite design prompts?  Comment below to inspire your fellow quilters! 

Visit https://www.cottonsplendor.com/ to find traditional quilt patterns and special handmade gifts.

Whatever you make, make it splendid! 

 Jen @CottonSplendor