Being Creative with Fabric Runs

I have had a fascination with fabric runs ever since making my first Bargello quilt. In fact, you could say that I am quite passionate when it comes to creating fabric runs. Finding just the right fabric to go between two fabrics can become somewhat of an obsession. Even though I tell my students that there is no such thing as the perfect fabric run there I was running around to quilt shops looking for that perfect pink and my friend thinking I was absolutely nuts. She kept saying, “what you have looks great” and I kept saying, “no, it’s not quite right.”

That was a few years ago and now I am not nearly as obsessed with getting the perfect fabric because I’ve realized that it doesn’t have to be perfect. As long as the transition between fabrics allows the eye to flow freely then I consider it to be a successful fabric run.

Image Caption: Colourful & Creative Fabric Runs

One of the key elements to creating a successful fabric run is to make sure that the fabrics sitting on either side of a fabric has some of the same colours allowing for a seamless transition between fabrics as they do in the background on this quilt below.

Image Caption: Dandelion Puffs

Fabric runs can be made as precise runs gradating from light to dark as seen in my flower quilts or they can be a bit looser and not quite so precise with larger jumps between the fabrics as in the background of Dandelion Puffs. It all depends on the look you want and what you are making.

They can be:

• Monochromatic (or almost) - using one colour gradating from light to dark
• Complimentary - using two colours gradating from light to dark while alternating the two colours
• Multi-coloured - several colours and often a rainbow of colours
• Fabric lines - some fabric lines work well for creating fabric runs and have really interesting prints that create wonderful texture

Image Caption: Rainbow Bricks

Image Caption: Urban Sunflower

Image Caption: Star Burst

At first, the fabric runs I made were used for making Bargello quilts - mostly wall hangings. But then my brain started swirling and wondering what else could I create using a Bargello and I came up with the idea of creating flowers. Hence my series of Bargello Flower quilts was born. Yes, this meant cutting up the Bargello, after all the effort of creating the fabric run, cutting the strips, making the tube, cutting again and sewing the strips together once again to make a gorgeous Bargello I cut it all up again. I know, isn’t that crazy to cut up that beautiful piece with such movement and texture that I had just spent so much time sewing together? But I did it, it turned out amazing and I never looked back.

Image Caption: Bargello Sunflower

Image Caption: Bargello Poppy

After all these years I am still fascinated with cutting up Bargellos - it’s a bit like a box of chocolates you have no idea what you are going to get until that last petal is put in place. It’s always a wonderful surprise.

Image Caption: Bargello Dahlia

Image Caption: Bargello Crocus

Fabric runs just have a way of sneaking into most everything I create when I’m not looking.

Explore fabric choices, angles, and quilting techniques to capture the depth and dimension of your project with me at Layered & Stitched: An Art Quilt Experience, a two-day LIVE virtual event hosted by Creative Spark on May 17-18th. From the initial sketch to the final stitch, I will guide you through simplifying the scene, infusing it with movement and texture. Use my code: ART24JEN to get $20 off of the event at checkout. 

Happy Quilting!

Jen

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Jen Houlden is a designer, teacher, and artist who takes inspiration from the world around her and loves sharing her passion for quilting. Jen’s quilts and art come alive by capturing a sense of movement through her use of color, texture and fibers while working with both traditional and non-traditional quilting techniques. Jen enjoys teaching from her island studio and will make you feel right at home in her virtual classroom.