Playing with Fabric Color and Prints – In Blocks & Quilt Backgrounds

One of the fun parts of quilting is picking out fabric. Most of us often only concentrate on color. I’ve covered that in previous posts. But what about prints? It’s another element of the fabric that you can have fun with. Also, this can play into the design in the blocks and the quilt backgrounds. I like to talk about playing with prints as well as color when I speak to guilds. I think it’s a fun subject so let’s get going!

Picking out Block Fabrics

What happens when you have a pattern that uses a specific fabric that is no longer available? I think this is the best time to concentrate on the print. If you choose a fabric that is close to the color of fabric in the original quilt, but you choose one with a larger or smaller print it may look very different. If that’s what you’re going for…OK. But, if you want the same look, choose a fabric with a similar print in the same scale on fabric that has a similar shade.

 

The orange print used in the quilt block on the left is no longer available in the quilt shop. The orange fabric on the right, would make a good substitution. The scale of the print is close in size and the shade of orange is close to the original also. Compare it to these other pieces of fabric:

These orange fabrics are a darker shade of orange than the one in the block and the prints are of a larger scale, so I probably wouldn’t choose these as a substitute. I’m not saying you can’t use one of these, you can. It will just change the look of your block a little more than the first fabric I suggested.

Picking Out Background Fabric

You can venture out from the typical background of a solid light tan or white. For instance, if you want to really have fun, try using a different light tan print in each of your blocks like I did with this scrap quilt, Seaside Cottage:

If your quilt calls for 2 yards of a tan print for background of blocks, consider buying 4 half yards or 8 quarter yards of coordinating tans to make up that 2 yards. Then you can use different backgrounds with the variety of color print pairings for blocks to make a scrappy background.

Or, have a lot of fun by actually changing from a light background print to a dark background print like I did with my quilt, Bloomin’ Days.

If you are planning on making this change, you will want to make the color prints you use with the darker background more vibrant so they stand out on the darker background.

How Prints Change a Block

The scale of prints you choose for a block and it’s background can also change how someone who views the quilt will notice the blocks. I played with that in my quilt, Scrappy North Stars:

Here are two blocks from the quilt:

For the block on the left, I used fabrics with prints about the same size in the block pieces, including the background. For the block on the right, not only did I use a lighter background fabric, I also alternated in print size depending on where the pieces fell in the block.

See how it changes the look of the block? For the one on the right, a person looking at the quilt might zero in on that fabulous purple print.

Here’s another example from my quilt, Sister’s Reunion:

The first thing you notice about the quilt, I alternated between dark and light fabric prints for the block backgrounds. That another way to have fun with backgrounds. Now here’s a close-up of two of the blocks:

Both of these blocks have a darker background and lighter fabric for the inner pieced portions. But for the block on the left, the light print is busier and draws your attention more. The block on the right is quieter.

Here’s two more blocks from that quilt, one with the light background and one with the dark to show you how they each play off each other.

Interesting, huh? Playing with prints and background colors gives you the opportunity to play with contrast as well. You can bring out some parts of a block and have other parts fade into the background by doing this.

Testing it Out While Shopping

Here’s a little exercise you can do when picking out backgrounds and fabrics for a block or entire quilt. You can use smaller cut of fabric in the quilt shop (like fat quarters) or stack bolts to do this. Here’s three examples:

The background fabric on the left is a large, bold print that will probably clash with the prints in the color print fabrics. If you decide to use this background fabric, it will be the “star” in your quilt with such a bold print so make sure that is your intention. I would choose a different set of color prints with smaller scale prints to go with that background. Or solids.

The middle photo has background fabric that works a bit better with the color prints because of a more subtle print even though it’s still prominent. The background is still a little more busy but, depending on the block design, it could work with the color prints without clashing. 

Finally, the background fabric in the last photo has a smaller print with has a more tone on tone color scheme. The smaller scale of the print reads more as a solid than a print. Because of this, it does not clash with any of the prints of the color fabrics and truly acts as a background. Definitely the safest of the choices.

Try this next time you are picking out fabric for a quilt in the quilt shop. It’s fun! And you never know, you may find an interesting combination that you would have never tried until you did this test.

That’s if for this week. For the next two weeks, since it’s the holidays, I am going to review my color posts. These posts will hopefully be great information for your next shopping trip, along with this post.

Until next week, Happy Quilting!
Deanne