Picking out fabric
WooHoo!! It’s time. It’s time!! The Mod City Center Quilt Along is starting (To learn more about the quilt along click here). I am so happy to be kicking off this event by pondering fabric and color, two of my favorite things. Today let’s dive into a picking out our fabric. Lets talk about our favorite thing fabric the collections they belong to and how you can use the fabric itself to build the perfect palette for a quilt.
The first time I really understood the concept of a fabric collection was with a fabric line called Neptune. It had already been on the market for ten months, maybe more. I decided I needed more of the line but was not having any luck finding more at my LQS. I supplemented this need with online shopping and ended up buying it from many different vendors, even one in Europe. It was amazing to me that there was something more to the big bolts of fabric at a quilt shop, and I was crushed to find out that once a shop had a fabric, it would not stay there forever.
Breaking down a fabric collection
If you find a fabric you like there is a huge chance that it is just one small part of a full collection of fabrics designed to match perfectly together. That fabric will have a designer, fabric name, collection name and manufacturer name. If they are prints, all of this detailed information will be on the edge of the fabric called the salvage (solids and Batiks don’t usually have these details on the salvage).
Most collections will have 20 to 40 different fabrics. Within all of these different matching printed fabrics, you will find focal fabrics (or main prints) which the collection is built around. There will also be a variety of prints with different scaled motifs that come in four (sometimes more) colors. These are mixing prints. Manufacturers (ie Riley Blake Designs, Art Gallery Fabric, Moda Fabrics) usually sell precuts for a full collection, layer cakes, charm packs, stackers and jelly rolls. It is up to you if you want to use the fabrics together. I love using a collection together, but I am not afraid to go outside the collection to get exactly what I want. However, I always find all the colors for my quilt within the fabric.
The perfect example of this is my fabric pull for the Mod City Center Quilt Along. Christopher Thompson designed Blue Carolina for Riley Blake Designs, a mostly blue fabric collection that I am absolutely in love with. He has splashes of pinks, red and yellows in the fabrics prints but no fabrics that are fully pink or yellow. I love these colors and decided to include pink and reds in my quilt. I used the fabric to pull my fabric palette. If you do this, you should have a lovely blending quilt.
Homework – Picking Out Fabric
This week your marching orders are to get your pattern (from my Etsy shop using the quilt along code MCCQA), pick the size you want to make, and then start picking out fabric for your quilt. Share pictures of your fabric pulls after you have decided on, or if you are having trouble deciding post those photos as well. Use #MCCQAfabricpull to enter into the giveaway for this step as well as #modcitycenterquiltalong. I am so happy to have you along for this journey! I can’t wait to see what you make. If you are not sure how to use Instagram, let me know and I would be happy to help you out.
Mod City Center Quilt Along Schedule
May 30 – Picking out fabric
June 6 – Cutting and organizing
June 13 – Making Block 1 & 2
June 20 – Making Block 3 & 4
June 27 – Putting the top together
July 4 – Free week Horary!!
July 11 – Backing and basting the quilt
July 18 – Quilting
July 25 – Binding
Enter to win
Share your progress on Instagram using #modcitycenterquiltalong
and #MCCQAfabricpull (each week this one will change). The more weeks you participate, the greater your chance of winning. When I reveal the next step, I will announce a new winner here on my blog. The prizes will get larger as the quilt progresses, so stick around.
Privacy on Instagram
Since I want to make this a fun and interactive experience, I would like to use Instagram. If you don’t have it and need help setting it up, let me know. To participate, please make your Instagram account open to the public. If it is not public I won’t be able to see your photos and won’t be able to pick you in giveaways. If you have issues with this, I understand. Direct message me and let me know.
