Tips for your fabric selection
Once again, welcome to my Dragon Dreams quilt-along! I am so excited and can't wait to see over 1000 new dragon quilts come alive over the next few weeks, woohoo!
Are you ready? Maybe you have had your fabrics selected for a while already, maybe you're currently waiting for a kit you ordered to show up in the mail. If you are still contemplating fabric choices, today's blog post is for you. 🥰
Please let me share some tips and resources to help you select your colours and fabrics for your Dragon Dreams quilt!
Before I start, please note: All the tips shared here reflect my personal taste and opinions. Please take them with a grain of salt and feel encouraged to follow your own preferences and gut feelings. Because at the end of the day, this is going to be YOUR quilt and YOU should love it most!
A few examples and mock-ups
Firstly, let me walk you through my general fabric selection process while providing a few examples.
1. Background
I find it is easiest to first decide whether you'd like to create a day or night scene and select a background fabric based on that decision. Generally, light fabrics (as shown in the first few mock-ups) or dark fabrics (as shown in the third mock-up) will also allow you to choose from a wide range of colours for your dragon while still providing great contrast.
2. Main body colour
Choose a main body colour for your dragon. Whether you go with neutrals or more vibrant colours, there are truly countless options.
3. Remaining body parts
I like to continue with the legs and choose something from the same colour family as the main body, but a bit darker. For the belly, I typically opt for something a bit lighter. Finally, for the wings and spikes I try to bring in some additional colours (e.g. complementary colours), making sure there is enough contrast between all the fabrics, so all the dragon's body parts stand out clearly.
Wanna take a turn and try for yourself? Find yourself some pencil crayons and use the colouring sheet your Dragon Dreams pattern comes with. If you'd like to print a few extras, you can download the PDF here.
If you are on Instagram, you can also browse through the hashtag #DragonDreamsQuilt and enjoy many more examples from creators all around the globe. 💛
More detailed tips and my fabric pull
If you'd appreciate more tips and a detailed step-by-step demonstration with my own fabric pull, please enjoy my video below.
Mentioned in the video:
The following shops have curated some beautiful bundles:
- Carol's Quilt Shop (Deltona, FL, USA)
- Harvested Collections (Barrie, ON, Canada)
- Indigo Quilt Studio (Lincoln, IL, USA)
- Just Sew Simple (Livingston, UK)
- Lori’s Country Cottage (Sherwood Park, AB, Canada)
- Piece Fabric Co. (Grande Prairie, AB, Canada)
- Quilt’n Things For You (Brockville, ON, Canada)
- Quilting with Marianne (South Jordan, UT, USA)
- Serenity Quilt Shop (Kenosha, WI, USA)
- The Quilter's Faire (Palm Desert, CA, USA)
- The Stitchery Studio (Port Moody, BC, Canada)
à Please contact these shops directly for more info on their kits!
PreQuilt App: My colouring sheets / PreQuilt - Homepage
Getting organized
Once you have chosen all your materials, let's spend a moment to get organized in general!
Get your workspace ready.
Do you enjoy starting a new project in a clean workspace as much as me? Let's take a moment to tidy up a bit. And while you're at it, maybe also remove the lint from your machine and change your needle and rotary cutter blade if you haven't in a while. I promise, I'll do the same! Now would also be a great time for pre-washing your fabrics if that's part of your routine (I don't usually pre-wash 😉), and maybe even giving them a good initial press.
Find a way to organize all your pieces.
Next week, you'll have to cut a few 😅 pieces before you can start sewing. In order to have comfortable access to them during each step of the pattern, I suggest displaying them neatly with all their labels. If your sewing table is large enough, that could be to the left or right of your machine. Otherwise, any kind of trays or even paper plates for each colour can be great options. I'll be using the wooden tray which you can see in the photo at the top of this post.
Find a spot to collect your completed dragon sections.
It'll be almost a month between making our first and last dragon sections. So, I recommend having a spot to keep them safe in the meantime. This could be your design wall, a corner of your desk, a large serving tray, or even a small foldable camping table – whatever works best for you. I also like to cover my sections up (e.g. using a large ruler or two), which will both prevent them from getting dusty and also keep them nice and flat.
That's it for WEEK 1 – I can't wait to get cutting with you next week! ✂️
I’m really gonna like this one! A great summer project
So fun to see everyone’s fabric choices! This is my first dragon, but definitely not my last.
I’m going to try using an ombre print that runs from light aqua to teal. I plan to fussy-cut the body sections from the various tones of color - darker for the legs, medium for body. Maybe oranges &/or golds for the spikes. Not sure about the wings yet.
I have a very light aqua for the background but may try to include some aqua/teal “flying dragon” fabric i found last week!
I noticed that- in the coloring tool you recommended— if you just put the mouse over any section label (to the left) it shows the outlines of each piece in that section. Note what color the lines are. Then click to choose a highly contrasting fabric color to help show the lines. You’ll have to click on a different area’s button, then hover back on the one where you want to see the sections.
(Sorry if too long)
How do we find out how much fabric is needed? Did I miss something!
I am making two quilts for two grandsons. Of course, they want their dragons shades of blues with a light gray background. I am adding my grannie thoughts and I am going to use a couple of the fabrics in a Riley Blake fat quarter bundle of checkerboards fabrics for the dragon’s spikes on his back.