3 Guidelines to Create a Truly Original Quilt
Posted by Lynn Rinehart on Aug 1st 2024
When it comes to quilting, fabric choices hold the key to uniqueness. While any pattern can be transformed into something completely original, the challenge lies in making your existing fabric stash work harmoniously. Imagine using the same pattern but with different colors—it’s like giving your quilt a fresh personality.
Whether you’re creating a gift for a cousin who despises pink or an aunt who adores blue, here are three guidelines to help you achieve that one-of-a-kind quilt:
1. Start with a Focus Fabric:
- Look for a fabric that embodies most of the colors you love or want to use in your quilt. This becomes your jumping-off point for selecting other colors. The secret? You don’t have to use the focus fabric in the quilt itself.Designers spend hours perfecting color combinations, so take inspiration from their palettes without necessarily incorporating the fabric.
- Be cautious with large-scale prints. Sometimes, when you cut them into smaller pieces (like 3-inch squares), you lose the overall effect of the design. Save these bold prints for your quilt backing.
2. Embrace Scrappy Elements:
- Not every area in your quilt block needs to be scrappy. Consider adding continuity by using the same fabric in specific places. Traditionally, this is done with the background fabric, but feel free to experiment. Maybe use the same fabric for corner squares or the center of the block.
- Remember, guidelines are just starting points. Feel free to adapt them to your vision.
3. Odd Numbers for a Controlled Scrappy Look:
- To achieve a scrappy effect, use an odd number of fabrics. Let’s say you need 50 three-inch squares for your quilt. If each square requires ¾ yard of fabric in the block, choose at least five fabrics with similar colors. Cut ten three-inch squares from each fabric.
- As you sew the blocks together, shuffle the fabrics. The result? A controlled scrappy quilt that’s entirely original.
Stripper’s Knot and Sweet n' Scrappy are patterns that are great for experimenting with color combinations and will offer more ideas on how to use color to make dynamic quilts. Now go ahead—experiment with your stash and create amazing quilts!
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Lynn Rinehart is a fiber artist, certified quilt appraiser, quilt designer, fabric lover, fabric collector, and lover of quilts. That’s really just a long way of saying that she is a quilter! She designs her own quilts and continues to quilt outside of the box, bringing in her natural curiosity about color and how it affects quilt designs.
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