Cosmic Cactus QAL PART 1: Select Fabrics + Colour Inspiration

Thanks for joining me for the Cosmic Cactus QAL!

Are you having a hard time deciding on your fabric?

Read on and discover plenty of inspiration and tools to help you decide on your quilt fabrics.

QUICK LINKS (click to skip ahead)

• Schedule

• Essential information

• Decide which quilt option

• Tips for selecting fabrics

• Fabric requirements

SCHEDULE

• Part 1, 6 June: Select your fabrics + colour inspiration

• Part 2, 20 Jun: Cut your fabric

• Part 3, 4 Jul: Make half-square triangles

• Part 4, 18 July: Make flying geese

• Part 5, 1 Aug: Make square-in-a-square block (paper pieced)

• Part 6, 15 Aug: Assemble blocks

• Part 7, 29 Aug: Assemble quilt top

• Part 8, 12 Sep: Finish your quilt - OPTIONAL

QAL ESSENTIAL INFORMATION

For essential information about the QAL, please read the blog post Join the Cosmic Cactus Quilt Along.

• If you don’t already have a copy of the pattern, be sure to grab a copy from our shop.

• You can join the QAL at any time, as the content will always be available on our blog.

DECIDE WHICH QUILT OPTION

Once you have a copy of the pattern, please ensure you read the General Instructions and Material Requirements pages. Take time decide on your quilt size and quilt fabric option (i.e. two-colour, four-colour or Scrappy (eight-colour).

Scrappy Quilt Only: Let me explain the further the options for the scrappy quilt, as the fabric requirements differ depending on which option you choose:

1. Yardage: Provides the option for those that would like to use yardage. The Cutting Instructions are outlined as both written instructions and a cutting diagram is included for those visually orientated.

2. Fat quarters / Fat eighths: Provides the option for those that would like to use fat quarters and fat eighths Please note this option only includes Cutting Diagrams and is used in conjunction with the Block Cutting Quick Guide (an overview of all the blocks + sizes you need to cut). Note there is no margin for error in cutting! Take a look at the cutting diagrams and see if you need to have a backup fat quarter in reserve if things go wrong.

3. Stash buster: Dive into your stash! This is a more adventurous option that relies on the Block Cutting Quick Guide (an overview of all the blocks + sizes you need to cut) and the Block Placement Guide (a diagram allowing you to colour in the blocks as you cut them). You can make an even scrappier quilt by following the guidance at the bottom of Page 14.

   Tip: I found this option works best with a quilt design wall (or somewhere you can layout the blocks), so you can check you are happy with your fabric placement before piecing and keep track of your blocks as you are piecing.

TIPS FOR SELECTING FABRICS

• The best place to start is by taking a look at the mock-ups on the Colour Inspiration blog, showing options for two-colour, four-colour and scrappy quilts. I’ve just added some more mock-ups, so take another look and see what inspires you!

• Check out some of the gorgeous quilts in the Pattern Tester Parade for some inspiration.

• Pinterest and Instagram can be a great source for colour inspiration. Start by searching the hashtags #CosmicCactusQuilt and #LouLouandBettyPatterns

• Think about why you are making the quilt:

  • A gift for someone special: Consider their favourite colour or their home decor when selecting fabrics. Baby quilts are a popular gift for new parents and there’s a wide range of gorgeous fabric prints available.

  • Match your home decor: If you’re making the quilt for yourself, look around your home and take colour cues from your home decor.

  • Stash Busting: Do you have a ton of fat quarters or fabric leftover from other projects? Challenge yourself to use what you already have.

• Create a mock-up. When it comes to selecting fabrics, I start by making a mock-up of the quilt and trying out different colourways. I need to see how the colours work together, if they are having the impact that I was hoping for and consider some minor tweaks (or starting over again). Once you have completed the mock-up, you’ll know what fabric colours to select when shopping or diving into your fabric stash.

  There are a number of options for creating a mock-up, including everything from low tech to high tech:

• Grab your pencils and use the colouring page included in the quilt pattern. Digitally colour this quilt and create a mock-up on our website. Visit our Colouring Page to find all our pattern colouring options.

• If you already use a quilt design program such as Electric Quilt or a graphics program such as Adobe Illustrator, then go ahead and create the design in these programs to colour in.

• Buy a quilt kit or fabric bundle. If you’ve seen something you really love, then why not buy a curated kit or bundle. This is particularly useful if you are short on time or not confident about choosing your own fabrics.

FABRIC REQUIREMENTS

Once you have decided on your quilt size, fabric option and completed your mock-up, it’s time to shop for your fabric or dive into your fabric stash!

• Refer to Finishing Materials (All quilts) for the binding, backing and batting requirements. Watch out for more about binding, backing and batting Part 8: Finishing your quilt!

• Refer to your quilt fabric option (i.e. two-colour, four-colour or scrappy) for the remainder of the fabric requirements. Also take into account:

  • If fussy-cutting, please ensure you allow additional fabric. This extra fabric you need will depend entirely on motif size and design.

  • If using direction fabrics: I don’t recommend using directional fabrics (i.e. stripes or lines) for this pattern, particularly for a beginner. But if you understand that not all the prints will be in the same direction then go ahead and use them. A more experienced quilter may be able to cut and align directional prints and create an interesting quilt. But keep in mind you may need extra fabric to do this.

  • If making the Scrappy quilt (option 3 - stash buster), sort your fabric into eight colours groups and determine if you have enough fabric. If you don’t have a large amount of leftover fabrics, then I suggest using the fabric requirements for the Scrappy quilt (option 2 - F8 / FQ).

What fabric did you decide on?

I decided to dive into my stash of fat quarters and make a scrappy (option 2 using FQ’s) baby size quilt. My selection is an array of vibrant colours with a low volume background. There’s a fabric print in there too for a fussy-cut block.

Now that you’ve chosen your fabric, stayed tuned for Part 2: Cut your fabric.

Don’t forget to share your progress on Instagram using the hashtag #CosmicCactusQAL for your chance to win a copy of the Cosmic Cactus pillow pattern!