Thread: Help in a hurry.... how to use large prints in a quilt

My grand daughter, age 6, loves horses so that is what the quilt I am making her for christmas will be themed. I am going to store tomorrow...I have to catch the fabric with 50% coupons otherwise I can't afford this kind of fabric

What I need is suggestions for a block or style that uses large prints. I have looked at the horse (real looking horses) theme fabric and it is beautiful, but...cutting it for HST's or FG's or 3x3 sqs etc... you wouldn't be able to see much of the horse...eyes and nose or back legs and tail....I want to be able to have a whole horse in a block or piece of block.I can cut them down to just the horse in a square or maybe just the face, depending on the fabric...but...other than just "charm" size squares sewn together...any suggestions on a block or style to use this kind of large print fabric?

How about using the horse fabric whole in a block, say 8 x8, and alternating those with another block made with coordinating fabrics. Even simple rail fence block/4 patch?

BQ springs to mind. Maybe because I cut a few blocks yesterday. Experimenting with 8.5" blocks that have sat in the cupboard for several years. Happy Quilting.

I helped my granddaughter make her 4-H quilt years ago with a horse fabric. We had 9" blocks of the pictures (there were several horses that we fussy cut). Then, we alternated those with a 9-patch of 2 coordinating fabrics. If I remember correctly, one of the fabrics was horse shoes, the other was a deep red that brought out the red in the horse pictures. We did sashing between the blocks and bordered it with the same fabrics as the 9-patch ones. It was a beautiful quilt (don't have a picture, sorry) and she won a blue ribbon for it. She's married now with a toddler of her own and she still has the quilt. Her husband couldn't believe she did it when she was 12.

Originally Posted by nanna-up-north

I helped my granddaughter make her 4-H quilt years ago with a horse fabric. We had 9" blocks of the pictures (there were several horses that we fussy cut). Then, we alternated those with a 9-patch of 2 coordinating fabrics. If I remember correctly, one of the fabrics was horse shoes, the other was a deep red that brought out the red in the horse pictures. We did sashing between the blocks and bordered it with the same fabrics as the 9-patch ones. It was a beautiful quilt (don't have a picture, sorry) and she won a blue ribbon for it. She's married now with a toddler of her own and she still has the quilt. Her husband couldn't believe she did it when she was 12.

This might work! I am anxious to get to the store tomorrow! thanks! And maybe horseshoe fabric for the border...Thanks!

You could always use the horse fabric as the backing of the quilt so that it had two sides that could be used. Sometimes those large prints just look better when left in one large piece. When my daughter was a college freshman, she picked up this cute shirtless cowboy print for me to make her curtains. I had a huge piece of it left over and just made her a minky fleece quilt leaving that cowboy fabric intact. She loved it. One side was cuddly minky, and the other side had all of her cute shirtless cowboys on it.

Originally Posted by PlanoDebbie

You could always use the horse fabric as the backing of the quilt so that it had two sides that could be used. Sometimes those large prints just look better when left in one large piece. When my daughter was a college freshman, she picked up this cute shirtless cowboy print for me to make her curtains. I had a huge piece of it left over and just made her a minky fleece quilt leaving that cowboy fabric intact. She loved it. One side was cuddly minky, and the other side had all of her cute shirtless cowboys on it.

That's true.. I might go that way so she can see all the horses. Hadn't thought about that. Thanks!

I do love the BQ patterns and they would work with horse fabric but because most of the are directional fabrics you have to be very careful how you put your blocks together to make sure all the horses are right side up.