Snuggles Quilts

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Fabric Prints – The Challenge and The Fun!

Fabric prints can present a challenge to many quilters, but can also be fun to play with. I thought about that this week while I was going through my fabric stash picking out fabrics for my next project. At times I come across a piece of fabric with an unusual print and wonder… why did I buy that? and how will I use it? I’m going to talk about fabric prints in this post,  including how to use them to their advantage in your quilt. Let’s get started.

Fabric Prints

The prints in a fabric make a difference. I like to pick prints based on where on the quilt I’d like to draw attention. If I want to emphasize a border, I choose a larger print. If I want a part of a block or the quilt to be more of a backdrop, I use a smaller print. That’s sort of a simplistic explanation so I will show some examples coming up.

Here are three fabrics of the same color with different types of prints

Three pink fabrics, but with very different looks based on the print scale and size. The fabric on the left has a small print, printed closely all over the fabric. The center fabric as a print that is a little larger but it’s more spread out, which makes it a bit less prominent. Finally, the fabric on the right has a very large print. 

I would not use these fabrics the same in making a quilt. The fabric on the far right will definitely be the “star” where ever you put it in the quilt. It would make a great border. If you chose to use it in a block, it would need to be paired with a solid or a very small print fabric for a background fabric so as not to clash with it or distract from it. Here’s what I am talking about:

Which fabric would you pair with that pink print? Of course, the one on the left makes the most sense because it fades into the background and won’t upstage the pink fabric at all. The one on the right doesn’t look bad though. The grey looks good with pink and the print is a different scale. This would tone down the effect of the pink fabric and if that’s your goal, that would be a good choice.

Here’s an example using blocks from one of my quilts.

Where does your eye go in each block? The block on the left is very harmonious. My eye may be drawn more to the dark blue star points because it has a more subtle, spaced print and it’s not a light shade. But that might be it. Now, the block on the right as more print contrast. The big print on the purple fabric helps to draw your eye outward. See what a print difference can do?

Finally, a background fabric print can make a big difference.

The background fabric on the left is a large, bold print that I feel will probably clash with the prints in the color print fabrics. Recognize that this background fabric will be the “star” in your quilt with such a bold print so make sure that is your intention.

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.

Finally, the background fabric in the last photo has a smaller print that’s more subtle due to the tone on tone color scheme and the smaller scale of the print.  Because of this, it does not clash with any of the prints of the color fabrics and truly acts as a background.

Directional Prints

Sometimes, a fabric will have a print that goes in a single direction. You’ll hear these fabrics referred to as “directional prints”. Directional print fabrics can present a challenge and, many times, quilters will shy away from using them. But don’t be afraid of using these types of fabric. It can actually be fun to play with directional prints.

How do you identify a directional print? A fabric has a directional print, sometimes referred to as a “one-way” print, when there is a clear up or down to the pattern on the fabric. Here are a couple of examples of directional prints:

Notice in the fabrics above, the print runs in one direction so it would look different in a quilt block based on how it was pieced into it. Compare the two above fabrics with the two below:

The design on the above fabrics are considered not directional because which ever way you turn the fabric, the print looks the same. You can see it clearly in the fabric on the left. The “starburst” design is symmetrical and looks the same no matter which direction you turn it.

There can be one-way, two-way, three-way and even four-way directional print designs. If I use a directional fabric and want the design to all go in the same direction within the block, I try to stick with a directional fabric that isn’t too complicated.

So that’s it for this week. Next week, I’ll share tips on how to use directional prints when making some simple block units. Leave a comment or ask questions below. See you next week!

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Coordination and Quilting Go Together

Like PB & J, coordination and quilting go together. What is coordination? One of the definitions you will find in the dictionary is: the organization of the different elements of a complex body or activity so as to enable them to work together effectively. Well that sounds like something we do when quilting all the time! Whether it’s fabrics, blocks, borders or a combination of all those things, coordination makes the quilt sing. Even scrap quilts! Let’s get started talking about this.

Block & Border Choice

One of the times to consider coordination in quilting is in choosing the blocks for your quilt. Also, if it’s a one block quilt, coordinating an interesting border can be used to set off the blocks in the quilt. Consider these three quilts below:

These are all one block quilts. But by doing interesting settings with the blocks and borders, they are unique in their own way. The quilt on the left, Marbles & Jacks, achieves an interesting look from the change in background color. I coordinated it by having the star in the center of the block opposite from the block’s background color.

Follow the Stars in the center is all the same block too! By just rotating the blocks in different directions, I created an interesting pattern with the black checkerboard accent.  This creates another thing that comes from coordination… a secondary design. 

Finally with an on point block setting, like in Homestead Hearth on the right, plain blocks and then a pieced border from the same fabrics as the blocks is another type of coordination. The plain blocks between the pieced blocks and the border help to set off your colorful blocks and the pieced border frames everything and draws you eye back to the blocks.

Secondary Design

More so than in a one block quilt, coordinating blocks in a two block quilt is a fun way to achieve a the secondary design I mentioned above. To get a secondary design, you need to choose two blocks that will make another design appear when they are pieced into a quilt top. My quilt Twinkling Log Cabin is a good example of this. Here are the two blocks that make up the quilt:

So here’s the quilt with the blocks put together. If you stand back from it and concentrate on the light portions of the log cabin blocks, star designs will seem to appear to your eye.

Also, if you don’t know there are the two blocks on point that make up the quilt before it is shown to you, the quilt looks like it has nine large center blocks with an interesting pieced border like below:

Looking at it that way makes you see a completely different quilt. Now that’s some interesting coordination!

Fabric Coordination

Another time to consider coordination is when you choose the fabrics. Color and contrast are not the only things to consider. We often look at the colors of the quilt on the cover of the pattern and work to find something close (or sometimes the exact fabric). You won’t always be able to find the exact fabric used in the sample because fabric companies often elect not to reprint a certain fabric. This is when you want to consider the print and scale of the prints, as well as the colors, in the original because the print can be as important in re-creating the quilt.

Here’s an example. The fabric on the left is the original fabric in a quilt I wanted to reproduce. However, that fabric was not to be found anywhere, so I chose the fabric on the right.

I managed to find a fabric about the same shade and with a print similar in scale. The print isn’t quite as tight as the original, but they read close.

Coordination also comes in to play when you are choosing the fabrics to make blocks. If you have a larger scale print in one of the fabrics and want that to stand out, choose fabrics with smaller scale prints so they read more as solids. Here’s an example:

Imagine if this fabric above was the fabric for your blocks, in different colors but with the same print. Now I need a background fabric. Here’s a couple of my choices:

Which one would you choose? I would go with the fabric on the left since the print is more subtle. Some of the print is the same size as in the focus fabric, but since it’s spread out more and the print is lighter, they will work well together. The fabric on the right should be used with a focus fabric with a more subtle print that reads more like a solid, in my opinion.  You might disagree… that’s what makes quilting so fun!

My basic advice is to coordinate the prints so they don’t battle with each other. Here is another example. The focus fabric on top is pretty wild, so any other fabric in the block needs to have prints that are more mild. Especially if you want that top fabric to stand out.

Here are two blocks in one of my quilts side by side. Study the print sizes in each block and you can see how print coordination can change where your eye goes.

In the block on the left, most of the prints are the same scale except for the dark blue. The scale is bigger and spread out more so that helps make that fabric more of the focus of the block. The block on the right is a little more “alive”. The dark brown smaller print for the star makes it stand out, but the large print in the purple fabric also draws your eye.

So, I hope this little lesson in coordination in quilting is more clear than mud. LOL! These are just “rules” I have followed throughout my years of quilting. You can adopt these or not. It’s up to you! The main thing is to have fun coordinating blocks, borders and fabrics and making a unique creation!

Leave a comment below with your questions or thoughts. I will have a drawing for a copy of my Twinkling Log Cabin quilt pattern on December 12th from those who comment. **We have a winner! Congrats, Lynn Hyman!**

Happy Quilting!
Deanne