Are you afraid of polka dots? Do you fear the thought of using stripes in your quilts?

Maybe that’s a bit dramatic, although I think quilters are hesitant to add a stripe or polka dot to their quilts. Florals or overall prints, no problem, but stripes and polka dots can seem trickier to choose and use.

The words “polka dots” always makes me smile and have since I was a kid and dotted swiss appeared on the fabric shelves, so there was finally something more fun than gingham. (Apologies if you love gingham!)

Stripes have so many possibilities – they can be narrow, wide, random, squiggly or straight, multi-colored or simply two colors.

I find that polka dots and stripes work in much the same way when used in a quilt, even though they are so very different in visual appearance. They might help hold the picture together or help it look like it is flying apart. They can act as fabric connectors, highlighting colors in a couple of the other fabrics to help them look like they belong together and belong in the quilt.

While other fabric prints that are only two colors often have a steady, almost staid feel, stripes and polka dots can have a similar feel or even something much closer to delight or playfulness.

Audition the placement of dots and stripes in your quilt. Do you like the effect of light and open dots placement or tight, narrow stripes? Try a few possibilities until you arrive at the feeling or design you like.

Some examples

Let’s look at some examples.

In this detail of Wedding Quilt, the stripe forms a frame, helping the viewer’s eye to focus on the center of the quilt. If that fabric were a solid instead of the stripe, your eye would stop and only see what was inside the solid fabric strips. The polka dot adds to this, pulling your vision both inside the stripe to the center and outward toward the edges. The dots are distributed evenly, which adds structure to the design, yet because the dots are spaced out from each other, they give the viewer space to focus toward the center and then let their eyes roam.

In my most recent quilt, 3 Squared, the black and white fabrics are almost all stripes or polka dots.

One of the borders is a stripe – granted, it’s a wavy stripe, but still a stripe. It is a wide border to enhance the effect that the stripe is holding back the rest of the activity that’s happening in the quilt top – trying to capture it so it doesn’t all escape. The stripe is not able to stay straight and totally secure because the busy-ness of the interior of the quilt is pushing to get out. Or, at least, that was the intention!

The other border fabric is a big, bulky polka dot. The dots are not perfectly round and are very close together, showing little of the white background. They give the appearance of more chaos outside of the border of the stripe.

Your creativity

Does this sound a little fuzzy and illogical? Maybe. This is where your sense of creativity comes into play. Explore possibilities and narrow down your choices. Determine whether random or even distribution, narrow or wide stripes, one-color, two colors or multi-colored choices work best. Are you trying to contain or expand? Add new colors or justify colors already appearing in other fabrics? Add a bit of zip or add a layer of calm and peace? Ultimately, which fabric do you like best?

Just for fun, here is In the Beginning God Created the Heavens… which uses polka dots in a totally different way. I wanted to give the impression of the night sky, after seeing the amazing photographs taken by the Hubble telescope of galaxies, stars and outer space.

The dots vary in scale and distribution to try to create an impression of the night sky. The juxtaposition of close, clear, random dots and softer, more spread out, random dots gives a feeling of distance and expansion. The variety in scale of the fabrics also adds to the feeling of distance.

Conclusion

Stripes and polka dots can bring interest, structure and fun to your quilts. Use them sparingly and purposefully or go for a quilt totally made with dots. Be brave. You can do this.

Share your stripes and dots adventures in the comments below!

Some helpful resources from elsewhere in the Dynamic Quilting website:

Three things to consider when choosing an inspiration fabric

How to make your quilt your own

The Dynamic Quilting Color and Fabric Plan - Make use of the Plan by starting with your overal goal for the quilt, find an inspiration fabric, and then use the Plan to aid you in choosing the rest of your fabrics.

Join my email list (below) to hear more about colorand fabric. As a gift, you will receive my free wall hanging pattern that works well for trying out a color palette or showcasing a particular fabric. Practice your color and fabric knowledge with this pattern!