I recently did a poll in my newsletter asking what the most difficult step in quilting was and the number one answer was creating a fabric bundle! This really blew me away! I didn’t realize so many quilters struggled with this. So I am here share with you my process on how to create your own fabric bundle in 3 Easy Steps!
Note: All of the bundles I create in the blog post are fabrics I found in my stash!
Step 1: Choose your main fabric
This first thing I do when creating a fabric bundle is to choose ONE main fabric that you love! Maybe this is a brand new fabric you see at the shop or one that you have been holding onto for awhile now.
Once you have selected a main fabric, take a closer look at all the colors in the design. You might be surprised by what you find!
For the fabric I chose, I see reds, pinks, gold, black, white/cream and a very pale gray/blue!
Step 2: Add supporting prints
When you are creating a fabric bundle, you need to think about the composition of the bundle. As with any fabric collection, there is a “hero” print that stands out the loudest. Then there are “supporting” or “secondary” prints.
I recommend just adding two or three supporting prints that are not as bold or “loud” as the main fabric selection. I would consider these prints to be more of a blender print.
You also want to maintain the feel of the main print. Are the colors muted, bold, soft, dusty, etc?
I found a nice golden yellow polka dot and a soft pink feather design. When choosing these supporting prints, make sure they do not overpower the main fabric!
Step 3: Solids
I love solids! Every fabric bundle deserves some coordinating solids. Solids help to tone down the busy nature of a fabric bundle and helps to round out your color palette.
Once you have thrown in a few solids you will see how your new fabric bundle looks like a well-rounded and cohesive color palette! I chose a few oranges and a very pale gray/blue!
What do you think? Do you like this color palette? If you are doing this at home with whatever fabric you have in your home, you may not have enough fabric for your project. But you at least have a foundation for your color palette and fabric choices. So now you can go to the quilt shop prepared and on the hunt for what you need!
Applying the bundle to quilts
When you are done creating a fabric bundle, you can head over to Quilt Ink and mock up some quilts in your new color palette to see what they look like! This is an awesome tool! You can even take a close up photo of your fabric or download a jpeg and use it to color in your quilts!
More Fabric Bundle Examples
WARNING: This process can be fun and extremely addicting!
Here are a few more examples of creating a fabric bundle and color palette for a quilting project. Again, I only used what I had in my stash, but if I needed more I could go to the shop and know exactly what to look for!
Okay just ONE MORE! And this one might just be my favorite! I mocked up just one quilt in a few different ways so that you can see all the various combinations you can get with your color palettes in one quilt!
adding to an existing fabric bundle
Sometimes you don’t need to create a fabric bundle from scratch. I’m sure you have at some point bought a whole bundle because you loved all the fabrics in the line! In this case, all you need to do is throw in some solids to round it out and tone down the busy prints! My all time favorite florals are from Rifle Paper Company. But it can be a bit much by itself.
I bought this bundle awhile ago and love it so much but look how much richer and filling it becomes when I add in some coordinating solids! *Chefs kiss*
additional tools
Now that you have your bundle and color palette worked out, you can go over to Quilt Ink and mock up your quilt pattern in the colors you have chosen! How cool is that? You’ll find all of my patterns available to color on Quilt Ink!
Another tool I like to use are color cards and fabric swatches. I get mine from Woven and Woolly! It’s a great to assist in online shopping if you do not have a brick and mortar shop nearby!
