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Quilting the Quilt: Using border print fabrics in your quilting
November 10, 2015
I am astonished at how many wonderful panels and border prints are available these days. Quilters have often referred to panels as “cheater quilts” since no piecing is involved. All you need is the panel, some backing fabric, and batting and binding. Add a little quilting and “Presto!” Instant quilt!
If you need a quick gift, or you simply want to ring in a season with a new wall hanging, a fabric panel makes things fast and easy. Coordinating fabric is sometimes available so you can add borders or more piecing to your panel if you like. However, many designers have incorporated borders directly into the printing to give the illusion that you’ve pieced the project.
Border print fabrics offer another quick alternative to traditional piecing or appliqué. A border print allows you to add panache to a simple block layout introduced a place without investing hours and hours of time. But it can also be the inspiration “in reverse” when you don’t know what to put in the center of your quilt!
I fell in love with the border print you see in my table topper (above). I knew I just had to have it, but I also didn’t have any particular plan for using it in a quilt. The answer was literally right in front of me. I used one of the flowers as inspiration, and created a large floral motif for a center panel.
Download the rest of this Quilting the Quilt article to learn more about this technique.
Dawn Cavanaugh
Dawn Cavanaugh is the Education Director at APQS.
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