purchase the Balance Quilt Pattern Here
One of my favorite things about quilting is that you can choose a pattern and interpret it however you want. Sometimes, I want to make quilts just like the original maker–I’m drawn to her use of color, or shape, or a combination.
Sometimes, I look at a pattern, and I think, I love this, and I know just what to do with it! One of the things I love most about the monthly Pattern Drop patterns is providing a number of different options for re-imagining the quilt. I’m sharing 10 here today, including one that I’m currently working on–a mini quilt for my sewing room.
Sign up for Pattern Drop here, or purchase the May Quilt Pattern Here.
1. Mix it up. Use a print for the “background” and solids for the block. This quilt mixes prints [a low volume, grid fabric for the background] and solids! [Do you love my look of concentration, taping it to the wall?]
2. This coloring pairs a neutral background [but not white] with a bold black and hot pink–the hot pink highlights the triple flying geese, found throughout the pattern. Use a bold color to highlight individual design elements that you like best.
3. This quilt coloring plays with the background, and chooses 3 different colors–the dark teal for the border, the white for the inner cross, and the light teal for the background of the main quilt. Use different colors/fabrics for the background of your quilt, and keep the blocks in a pretty limited palette.
4. Don’t use white as a background! Isn’t this a soothing palette? This would make a great [large] quilt for a new baby, or a couch quilt for a house that is mostly neutrals.
5. Looking for a minimalist interpretation? Many quilts can become more minimalist if you drop a few [or a lot] of blocks. This 3 color quilt highlights a variety of shapes, including the cool southwest-vibe shape in the upper right quadrant.
6. Expand your color palette–You can’t go wrong with a spectrum quilt–this muted rainbow quilt would be so fun to piece! And it would look great with scrappy prints.
7. 2 color quilts can highlight the the interesting shapes made in the negative space. Just make sure neither of the colors are a neutral [white, navy, cream, gray, black, etc].
8. Create a 2 color quilt in a trendy color palette. This version of the 2 color quilt definitely highlights the orange–made in the Kona color of the year, Tiger Lily–would be so awesome!
9. Add borders. This quilt would be super simple to upsize to a queen size quilt! Just increase the border size and you’ve got it! Changing the scale of the border does really cool things with the look of the quilt, too.
10. Use fabrics all from the same line, but instead of using *all* of the fabrics, pick 3 or 4 for an interesting, and cohesive, look.
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Thank you for posting. I really appreciate seeing the subtle changes and how that affects the overall look of this beautiful quilt.
I was so glad to read this! I didn’t love this pattern when I got it – the colors and asymmetry just didn’t work for me, but I absolutely love the rainbow version above as well as several of the others here. Thanks for the inspiration.
Thank you so much for the great new way to look at quilt patterns. It has really helped to open up my vision for future quilts.
What an awesome resource. Thank you for sharing! I’ll link back in my next newsletter.
I know I am the boss of my quilt. Sometimes I forget. This was a sweet reminder. Plus I enjoyed sorting out what appealed to me about each change. Thank you!
I absolutely LOVE this design in every single color and concept shown. Compliments to the creator!
I’m rather new to modern quilts. I like some of them but not all. After looking at the different versions in this post, I’ve decided the 2 I liked the most are the minimalist one & the one with the added border. Is there a chart anywhere that tells you how much extra fabric to buy when adding a border(d)? I understand you have to know the size of the quilt you’re starting with.