Not Every Quilt Starts With Fabric
This week I've been spending most of my time working on a memorial T-shirt wall hanging, and it reminded me of something I've learned over the years: not every quilt starts with fabric. 💛
Sometimes a quilt starts with a memory.
Sometimes it starts with a favorite shirt.
And sometimes it starts with trying to figure out how to tell someone's story through fabric.
For this project, I found myself spending far more time in the planning stage than at the sewing machine. Using EQ8, I worked through different layout ideas and designed custom lily flower blocks that will become part of the finished wall hanging.
The lilies weren't part of an existing pattern. I designed them in EQ8, saved multiple versions as I worked through ideas, and eventually settled on the blocks that felt right for this project. They weren't something I pulled from a shelf. They were a design element I wanted specifically for this project, so I spent time creating and refining them before a single piece of fabric was cut.
I originally pulled fabrics from Jaftex's I've Got Hue collection and a FQ pack of Henry Glass Folio basics collection because the colors felt perfect for lilies. After washing, drying, and auditioning fabrics, I ended up using Fluidity precuts for these first test blocks instead. The other fabrics won't go to waste, though—they're already earmarked for additional lilies that will appear elsewhere in the project.
Once the design was finalized, I used my AccuQuilt system to cut many of the pieces, which helped turn an idea on a computer screen into actual quilt blocks sitting on my cutting table.
One of the things I've enjoyed most lately is seeing how much the planning stage influences the finished quilt. The fabrics are important, of course, but so are the decisions that happen before the sewing begins — block choices, layout decisions, background fabrics, and all the little details that help tell the story.
It's also made me appreciate the supporting fabrics even more. The blenders, subtle textures, and background fabrics may not be the stars of the quilt, but they often provide the foundation that allows everything else to shine.
For now, the wall hanging is still a work in progress, but I'm enjoying watching it slowly come together one design decision at a time. ✨
