Sometimes the hardest part of any project – quilting or otherwise - is getting started.

An inspiration fabric gives you a place to begin. If you want to pull together fabrics that will turn into a great quilt, using an inspiration fabric as the foundation for building your fabric selections helps give you a direction and the start of a plan.

So how do you choose an inspiration fabric? Almost any fabric can be your inspiration fabric. However, choosing one that addresses these three aspects of your overall quilt plan can make selecting the additional fabrics easier:

1.      The style, design or pattern of the quilt

Are you using a particular pattern? A log cabin, a star pattern, tumbling blocks, etc.

Are you planning a modern quilt, a Civil War quilt, a seasonal quilt or a quilt with another type of style?

Is the quilt’s design in blocks or overall, contemporary or traditional?

2.      The color scheme

Are you making this quilt in your favorite colors? To match your living room? In your college student’s school colors? As a baby quilt? Are you trying an analogous or a triadic color scheme?

Whatever color scheme you wish to use, remember that the values of the colors can vary, giving you more range of color and fabric choices.

3.      The emotion or reaction that you want the viewer to feel

How do you want people to feel when they see your quilt? Calm, happy, warm, restful, excited, awed, inspired? How do you want to feel when you see your quilt? That’s probably the most important question.

These three cues can help inform your choice of the the pattern of the inspiration fabric itself:  a small or large floral, a stripe, warm or cool colors, high or low intensity, etc.

If you choose an inspiration fabric that makes you imagine the style, design, and emotion of the quilt you want to make, you’ve hit upon the right one. It doesn’t mean that the inspiration fabric must be the largest or the most prominent or the most noticeable fabric in the quilt. You are using it to help you select fabrics. Sure, it is helpful if it is the “joiner” fabric that brings all the fabrics together, but it doesn’t have to be. It could be the border fabric or it might be the yellow that exudes warmth and brightness as star points or flower petals that helps you choose the fabrics surrounding it.

I recently made a quilt that makes me smile every time I see it – it makes me happy. The quilt makes other people smile, too. It’s black and white with some pink and bright green, so not exactly the color scheme that you think will produce smiles, but it does. The design helps, but what really makes it work is the inspiration fabric. It’s white with small black, bright green and vibrant pink flowers scattered over it. I love the fabric, and it ended up turning my black and white quilt into a quilt with color, value and intensity that makes me happy whenever I see it.

Let the fabric inspire you. There are lots of amazing choices. Don’t let the number of possibilities overwhelm you – just get started and choose one. Imagine what you want your quilt to look like and how you want it to make people feel and go find that first fabric. Start with your stash, then hit up your local quilt shop or online store and find your inspiration fabric. 

Do you start choosing fabrics with an inspiration fabric? Does it work for you? Successes? Failures? Frustrations? Share in the comments below.

Fabric is a palette of possibilities.

For help in using an inspiration fabric to choose additional fabrics, download the Dynamic Quilting Color and Fabric Plan pdf document. It is a one-page template where you can lay out your vision for your quilt, including the inspiration fabric and possible fabric choices.

Also, my new book, Conquering Color and Fabric, has recently published. It walks quilters through learning more about color, value and fabric, and how to practice using what you’ve learned. Lots of photos! A chapter even walks you through how I chose fabrics for a quilt, using The Dynamic Quilting Color and Fabric Plan.