Tips on How To Choose Fabric for Your Quilt

The quality of a quilt is determined by many things - the design, the stitching, the quilting, but ultimately the quality of the quilt is only as good as the fabric its made of. Read our tips on how to select the best fabric for your quilt.

Purchase the Best Fabric You Can Afford

As with many things in life, you get what you pay for when you purchase fabric. If your budget allows, purchase top quality fabric from a reputable quilt shop to ensure that your work of art endures for years to come. The fabrics sold in quilt shops are typically made from the highest quality greige goods (or base fabrics), whereas discount and big box stores often purchase fabrics that look similar but are less durable. When comparing fabrics feel the fabric and see if it feels soft and supple - this is generally referred to as its "hand". Hold the fabric up to the light and check the amount of light that shines through - this will give you a good idea of the tightness of the weave. Note the vividness of the colors - discount fabrics often have a similar pattern with a reduced number of colors in the print.

If your budget doesn't allow you to purchase full price quilt shop fabrics, don't despair! Most quilt shops offer discount fabrics and put fabric on sale once it has been in the shop for a while. You can also catch periodic sales from your local quilt shop that will help you grab bargins.

Other ideas for buying fabric on a budget - check garage sales, second hand stores and estate sales! 

Fabrics that Work Together

When picking out fabrics for your quilt try to have variety in value, size of print and color.

The Value of the print refers to the relative lightness or darkness of the fabric. Try to make sure that you have light, medium and dark fabrics in your quilt so that the fabrics will pop and not blend together and appear muddy.

Try to also include a variety of Print Sizes. Fabrics come in large bold prints, tiny patterns that read as solids and everything in between. Mix it up! Variety is the spice of life and a source of interest for your quilt.

Picking Colors for your quilt is really a matter of preference. We've seen beautiful monochrome quilts to quilts that feature the colors of the rainbow and everything in between! Do try to find colors that play well together. Here at the Patch we lay out bolts on the table until it feels right.

One great tip for picking colors is to select a feature print that you love and then pick fabrics that coordinate with it. Many fabrics have color swatches printed on the selvedge that you can use to determine the colors included in the print and you can use that to help you find other fabrics that will match.

Fabric Collections

Fabric collections are a quilters best friend. Designers create a collection of fabrics that coordinate prints, colors and values. A collection might have between 15 and 30+ choices, with prints that are big, medium, and small. When shopping online, you can’t be sure that a photo is showing a fabric’s true color, so it’s hard to try to match them up yourself, but if you pick fabrics from a collection you'll know that they'll coordinate! When shopping in person don't feel limited to fabrics in a collection but it can be a great way to start.

Quilt Kits

Quilt kits are another great way to get quilting. Quilt shops often pick a pattern and then select fabrics that go well together and bundle it in a kit. Quilt kits contain all the fabric you need - typically for your quilt top and binding, so that takes the worry out of selecting fabrics. At the Patch our staff creates samples of virtually all of our quilt kits so you can see exactly how your quilt will turn out and be sure that we have checked the the material requirements and pattern for accuracy.

You can buy quilt fabric from Patchwork Plus with all kinds of prints and themes. They’re carefully curated by us and will stand up to years of wear and tear. We have more tips on how to choose fabric for your quilt, too, so reach out if you have any questions. Good luck!