It’s a Chicken or Egg Situation

It’s a tale as old as time …

It’s the chicken and egg dilemma of quilting.

How do you decide what quilt to make next?  Which comes first, the fabric or the pattern?  Does the fabric prompt you to make a quilt or does a pattern nudge you towards your cutting table? 

In all probability, it’s most likely a mix of the two.  There may be times when a particular fabric grabs your attention and the next thing you know, you’ve swiped your card and left the fabric shop with five yards of your newest, most favorite material.  Then there are the times when a pattern called out to you, and you knew you just had to make that quilt.  Right now.  No matter what other project you were in the middle of making.  For me, it’s always been more about the fabric than the pattern.  When I come across a pattern I just have to make, usually it’s one which will challenge my skill set and I come away from that project a much better quilter.

However with fabric, it’s not that situation.  Fabric is all about color – what appeals to the eyes, what emotion it evokes, and how it sings to the soul.  Since most people are visual learners (learn best by watching someone perform a task), I would cautiously venture to say most quilters are visual quilters.  The colors and patterns they see with their eyes prompt them to purchase certain fabrics.  At times, yards of certain fabrics. But once we have this prized material in our possession, what do we do with it?  How do we go about choosing a pattern which showcases this wonderful fabric?  With this blog, I will walk you through my process of choosing a pattern for my fabric, and fabric for a pattern. 

Large Prints – By large prints, I’m talking about anything over two to three-inches wide. Kind of like this:

These are prints which will lose their integrity if cut into small pieces (you won’t be able to determine the print) and usually have several colors involved in the printing process. These fabrics make excellent focus fabrics.  The colors can help you determine the rest of the material you need to pick out for the remainder of the quilt.  Borders and sashing are great places to showcase large prints, as well as setting blocks or triangles. 

If none of these options work, try finding a pattern which uses large block units.  A large print may work perfectly well for the center of some star blocks or large flying geese. 

The important concept to keep in mind for large prints is you need a large space to showcase them properly.  If they’re cut into small block units, it’s going to be difficult for anyone to see how truly wonderful this fabric is.  Give it room to impress.

“Blingy” Fabric – We see a lot of this at Christmas, and occasionally it creeps into other fabric too – the fabric which has been shot through with sparkly threads or dyes. 

Depending on the designer, this can be super cute or super not cute.  I rarely bring this type of fabric home unless it is Christmas fabric for Christmas quilts, but when I do I tend to approach this fabric in the same manner I do large prints – borders, sashing, large block units, setting blocks, and triangles.  However, if the blingy print is something like this:

Where the metallic highlights are on a smaller scale, they do work well in smaller block units, which, when scattered across the quilt top, makes the quilt top sparkly.  And in applique I’ve found this type of fabric works well to mimic snow and ice.

Reproduction Fabric – I realize this fabric can be used in any quilt, but personally when I decide to purchase 1930’s or Civil Ware reproduction fabrics, I automatically think of quilts appropriate for the time period.  I just can’t get myself out of that box.  Thirties reproduction fabric works beautifully in Dresden Plates and Sunbonnet Sues.  Civil War fabrics look equally as beautiful in Star blocks. 

Background/Neutrals – This is one type of fabric I generally don’t purchase until I need it.  These are the backbones of both pieced and appliqued quilts.  Their job is to play “supporting actor” to the rest of the fabric.  Generally we tend to think of these as low-volume, tone-on-tone, or solid fabrics in whites, beiges, ecru, gray, and black.  However, now almost any color of material can be up for consideration as a neutral or background.  If I do see some fabric I simply must have and know it will be used as a background, I mentally rehearse what type of materials I will need for the applique.  If it’s a lighter background, almost any color of fabric will work for the applique.  If it’s black, I know I’ll need material which can stand up next to the inky darkness.  Bright batiks or quilters cottons will generally be used on blacks.  Knowing what kinds of colors I’ll need for the applique allows me to mentally go through what I have on hand, so I know what (if anything) I’ll need to purchase in the future.

If the neutral is part of the pieced quilt, I have to keep in mind that it will be scattered pretty equally over the quilt top. It will need to play nicely with the other fabrics and not overwhelm them.  Neutrals in pieced quilts are there to balance the quilt blocks and give the eyes a place to rest before moving over the rest of the quilt top. 

“Wow” Fabrics – These are also called sparkles, sizzlers, and a host of other names.  These are the fabrics that you simply love and must buy because …well… because you love them.  There may not be any rhyme or reason why you love them, you just do.  They touch your sense of sight and sing to your soul, and you must have at least a yard of it.  Maybe two.  Perhaps even the entire bolt not that I would know anything about that.  If these are large print “Wow” fabrics, you may want to opt to handle them the same way you do large prints in blocks. However, I generally don’t use my “Wows” as borders or sashing because that is too much of a good thing.  My favorite way to utilize these fabrics is to sprinkle them across the quilt top sparingly – as part of block units or as cornerstones in the sashing.  This way they draw the eye across the quilt top.

Nine times out of ten, I find the fabric and then pick a pattern.  However, there are times I work the opposite way.  And the longer I quilt, the more I’ve discovered that applique patterns determine the fabric for me.  There are a few other scenarios which dictate the pattern first, then the fabric and these are listed below.

The Date of the Pattern – I do realize there are no hard and fast quilting rules and there are no quilt police.  As a result, there are also no hard and fast rules that an older pattern can’t be set ablaze with brilliant batiks or the latest line from Riley Blake.  And there still are current patterns which still use the old blocks – such as Log Cabins, Ohio Stars, and Drunkard’s Path.  However, I do think there are certain quilts, because of their quilty genealogy and DNA, that deserve pause and special fabric choices.  Quilts such as Dear Jane, which falls squarely in the Civil War era, may need the fabric/fabric reproductions from that era to be effective. 

I realize that may be just a tad controversial and I welcome this debate.  I’ve seen really pretty Dear Janes made from batiks.  But the way I look at the quilt, and knowing the history behind the quilt, makes me squint just a little when it’s not made from Civil War reproduction fabrics.  And I do say this from personal experience.  The first Dear Jane I made was from 1930’s reproduction fabric.  My reasoning:  I had a tub full of Aunt Grace Feed Sack reprodution fabrics.  I needed to use them.  This Jane is finished, but not quilted.  It’s lovely and wonderful (and did I mention finished?), but somehow it doesn’t look quite right.  Because of this, I now am collecting Civil War blue fabrics and will make another one.  I figure once I’ve perhaps righted this mental wrong I can be at peace with my 1930’s Jane. 

I will also acknowledge this could just be a “Sherri” thing and I may be the only quilter who thinks this way.

The Type of Quilt – Specific quilts just prompt certain fabric selections. Certain quilts, such as some Amish ones, generally require specific colors in order to look authentic.  The same goes for Civil War reproduction quilts that you want to look as if they came from that period.  

Some applique quilts can fall under this category, too.  I’m thinking of such splendid applique quilts as Love Entwined and the Caswell Quilt.  While, yes, both of those quilts can be made with any color scheme (and they would look lovely), Love Entwined is a Georgian Era quilt, which according to quilt historians “has no peer” (in other words, it’s truly one of a kind).  It stands as a testament to British and Quilting History during that time period.    I’ve seen this quilt made in bright colors, batiks, and other quilting cottons, but it’s something about that Georgian palette…

That shows this quilt in it’s pinnacle of glory. 

To a degree, I think the Caswell Quilt also falls in this category. 

This quilt was inspired by the Caswell Carpet in the Metropolitan  Museum of Art in New York and it’s Circa 1835 –so it’s pre-Civil War and the color palette is just bit lighter than the true Civil War hues.  I admire the applique skills it takes to pull this quilt off.  And while I have seen this quilt done in other color palettes, I have the same reaction to it as I do when I see Love Entwined reproduced in other palettes – I feel jarred. 

I also realize these reactions could be solely mine and other quilters have no problems with changing out older palettes with newer, brighter hues. 

Finally, I’d like to walk you through some questions to ask if you’re muddling through the dilemma of “Should I let the fabric dictate the quilt, or the quilt dictate the fabric?”

• If you’ve pulled a piece of fabric you absolutely love, what do you love about the fabric and how do you see it used most effectively?  Borders and sashing?  Used liberally in quilt blocks?  Will the design in the fabric lose it’s shape and integrity if the material is cut into smaller pieces?

• What do you think when you look at a quilt pattern?  Can you picture it in color ways other than the one it’s pictured in?  If it’s a period specific quilt, can you see it constructed in only period specific reproductions or in another, more recent color way?

• What feeling, thought, idea, etc., do you want the quilt to convey?  Quite often it’s this question which will help you chose your colors.  Want a quilt which conveys peace?  Blues, greens, and neutrals.  Want one to warm up a room?  Reds, oranges, and yellows.  Do you want the quilt to bring in Spring long before the calendar flips to March?  Quilt a flower garden – pastels, brights, and every color in between.  Is the quilt for the Holiday Season?  Bring on the bling.

• What is your long-term plan for the quilt?  Yes. You really need to answer this question before you take the first stitch.  Is the quilt show-bound?  If you’re constructing a quilt you want to enter in an international or national show,  you need to know that before the first cut of fabric is made, because show quilts definitely need more consideration – from fabric to technique.  Is this just a quilt for personal enjoyment or a gift?  Is it an heirloom?  Do you want it to have historical context?  All of these questions will help you decide if any attractive color palette will do or you should be more selective in your fabrics.

• What quilting motif will you use?  This one sounds a bit trivial, but hear me out.  If you’ve made a quilt from a particular time period using that time period’s colors (such as Dear Jane), you may want your quilting motif to be in sync with era in which the original was produced.  An edge-to-edge may not be the best quilting motif to choose.  However, I do think the older quilting motifs (such as Baptist Fan) looks well on almost all quilts regardless of color palette or design.

I hope in the “chicken or egg” dilemma of quilting, no matter if the fabric dictates your quilt pattern or the quilt pattern dictates your fabric, this blog offers a little insight and helps you.  Most of the views in this blog are mine – they come solely from my experience as a quilter – and can and should be debated.  Like I said earlier, there are no quilting rules and there are no quilt police.  Let me know how you handle this situation. 

Until Next Week, From My Studio to Yours,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix