After the Rain: Fabric Ideas
This is another post in the After-the-Rain sew-along series. Find the details and master post list here. You’re welcome to join in!
Choosing fabrics is definitely my favorite part! I had some fun with PreQuilt, planning fabrics for my quilt and playing around with some other possibilities. I’ve paid for the market plan, which allows me to use digital fabric swatches and to make the virtual coloring sheet to share with you.
Here are some fabric ideas for the After the Rain quilt. I know not everyone enjoys the fabric selection stage, so if you’re feeling stumped, these fabrics are available at my sponsor shops!
After brainstorming colors for Liz, my quilt recipient, I started browsing The Confident Stitch online. Designer Jennifer Sampou’s Ombré Sky fabrics immediately caught my imagination. The have an organic, transformative style that feels powerful. Then I noticed the Chalk & Charcoal collection by Jennifer Sampou, which has a similar earthy vibe, but offers a different texture and color range.
Pictured here are the fabrics I started with. Funny, this time I began with near-solids, rather than interesting prints!
Ombré Efflorescent
Here’s what I’ll be making for Liz! Fabrics, from left:
Tree Stripe
Ombré Sky Sundance
Ombré Sky Shadow
Anna Maria Horner Traffic Cherry
Ombré Sky Tornado
Cool to be Kind Blue Note
This quilt mock up can’t do justice to the ombré fabrics. I’m eager to see how their dynamic color variations translate for After the Rain.
If you compare this quilt mock up to my color picks for Liz, you’ll notice the absence of orange and that I swapped the true greens for teal. In fact, the ombré sky fabrics include a gorgeous dark teal, which captured my heart. Don’t be shy about changing your colors when you encounter fabrics that speak to you! I’m glad this quilt has a lot of strong, warm colors. That’s how I see Liz - a bold, warm heart.
Some of these fabrics are no longer listed on The Confident Stitch because they’ve been pulled to create a limited number of quilt kits. If you’d like one, act fast! A few Ombré Efflorescent kits are available to ship now, with a few more possibly available later this month.
Glimmer
Over at Quilt Sandwich, I created this second collection of fabrics. I began with the bold teal and neutral print that became focal print of the large half rectangle triangle blocks.
To me this version of After the Rain feels quite hopeful, due to the lacy fabrics, pretty colors and loads of glimmering metallic prints. I’m loving the contrast of the deep stormy blacks with the light and pretty shades.
Fabrics from left:
There are no kits prepared, but all fabrics are (at this moment) in stock at Quilt Sandwich.
Scandi Zen
How about something totally different? At Dragonfly Quiltworks I was inspired to create a fresh, breezy version of After the Rain. This one combines the Scandinavian style of Lotta Jansdotter with the urban cool of Zen Chic fabrics.
Fabrics from left:
There are no kits prepared, but all fabrics are (at this moment) in stock at Dragonfly Quiltworks.
Florida
The nice thing about the PreQuilt color sheet is that it’s so easy to test out new ideas. So far my already-sewn After the Rain quilts and my quilt mock ups are all custom curated fabrics. What if I used a single fabric collection? Would it have the breath of values to serve After the Rain?
At Fenceline Fabrics I created this mock up using the Ruby Star Florida collection. You can find all these Florida fabrics (and more options in Florida!) in stock now.
So, that was fun! I hope you are enjoying exploring ideas for After the Rain with me. And, I hope you are feeling inspired for your own!
There’s still time to order fabrics, as we don’t start sewing until the week of January 25th. This quilt-along proceeds at a leisurely pace, and the quilt goes together fast. If you’re joining in, don’t forget to share the “I’m In" Button, located in the main sew-along post, via Instagram with hashtag #AftertheRainSAL. All who do so before January 20 are entered to win a fabric giveaway from The Confident Stitch!
