Does this even exist?
 

I am wanting to make my daughter who rides dressage, a form of English riding, a quilt of a dressage ring. I want to use a neutral batik jelly roll so it will look like sand footing in the ring. So white is too white and brown is too dark. I'm wanting to find like ecru to a light tannish. Well... Sand color. I thought the batiks would give it some texture but I'm having a hard time finding what I'm wanting. I guess if I can't find the batik, I'll use cotton with very small print.

I'm just wondering if what I'm wanting is even made? Has anyone had this issue? I would love for the main part of the quilt to resemble sand as much as possible.

Anyone have any any ideas what company makes this or any ideas on how I can achieve this look? I would be so grateful for any help/suggestions. This is a Christmas present for my daughter but since this is a design I have come up with just in my head and on paper I want to start working on it ASAP in case I come upon issues!!

TIA!!!

I'm sure somewhere there is a sandy coloured fabric. Try a google search . Just did a search but all locations were UK based and no use to you, I'm assuming USA .

I have a few fabrics that look like sand. You can usually find things like that in the areas that a store has fabrics that resemble things like brick, wood, grass, pebbles... If they have a section like that.

If you can't find anything, perhaps you could coffee stain an ecru-ish batik. Get a stiff paint brush, shake off most of the coffee into a pail, then hold the brush in one hand, and tap it down on your other hand to spray the fabric. If you don't shake off most of the coffee, the spots will be bigger. Then Iron the fabric with a floursack cloth over the top so you don't smear it. Not sure how else to set it.

I found a jelly roll but the photo is a side picture of it rolled up so I have no idea what the fabric would look like.

FiveseveN- thanks for the tip. I have scrapbooked a few years back and used that method. I didn't even think about a coffee type staining process. Will have to try that if I can't find something already made.

I'm so excited about my idea. I just hope that when it comes to fruition that it will look as I've imagined it!!!

DOTTYMO- yes I am in the U.S.

Try Stonehenge range http://www.stonehengefabrics.com/ ....this offers you a range of colors the other name i could think of was Bali pops by hoffman....

http://www.fatquartershop.com/hoffma...offman-fabrics

Hoffman fabrics makes tons of beautiful batiks and I have seen many that would work for sand.

Elizabeths Studios makes a sand -look cotton in their Landscape Medley Collection.
Sandy ( no pun intended)

There are tons of sand/tan/beige colored batiks available, but I don't know if they come as pre-cut strips. Is that critical to you for some reason? Try Hancock's of Paducah and search their batiks by color.

Your quilt idea sounds like a real winner. My daughter also rides (and judges) dressage. She learned how to quilt just so she could make her own schooling pads and blankets.

Check out Connecting Threads batiks. They have a beigey mottled look that I used a year or so ago.

I would not limit myself to looking for precut strips. If you look for yardage I think you will be more successful. I would look at Connecting Threads and as mentioned look at Stonehenge fabric. Not batik, but lots of texture.

Just a suggestion. Have you thought of taking a picture of her while doing dressage. Then take that silhouette and applique it on a background that has the look of the dressage ring?? Never cared for dressage but have always loved the jumping. Mostly exercised Polo ponies to earn my way thru college.

Good idea from Maniac.....that silhouette effect is simple but beautiful. Personally loved all aspects of showjumping - remember as a child growing up watching BBC1 televising the annual Horse of the Year show along with some famous (well famous to us Brits) riders - Nick Skelton and my personal favourite Yorkshireman Harvey Smith. Please be sure to post a picture when you have it done !

Lots of batiks, Hoffman 1895 have the mottled look, also a nice oneat Sew Batiks and the top of the line from Mickey Lawler.

Try some hand dyes and I agree stonehenge fabric has a lot of texture.

I love horses, used to ride as a kid and now am lucky enough to work one morning a week with a client who attends Riding for the Disabled. She loves riding and I love leading her around whilst she does her lesson. We also spend a lot of time bonding with the horses and ponies, grooming and feeding as well as some arena work (she did lunging last week).

All the best with your idea and don't forget to show us.....we love pictures.

Thousands of bolts has a lot of choices http://www.thousandsofbolts.com/inde...search_string=

I like to actually look at the fabric up close, so have never ordered from them, but really do like to look at all the possibilities there.

look for beach fabric, you'll find lots of sand

The row by row specialty fabric has a sand fabric - check them out on row x row website.

You might also try Desert Storm camouflage fabric.

Warm Stone by Stonehedge has something that might work.

Stonehenge

Start looking on-line at several quilt shops and you will find more batiks than you can look at.

The Stonehenge is what I'd use and without the worry of bleeding you might get from batiks.

If you're having that much trouble finding just what you want, why don't you make your own? It will take a little time, but it's not hard. And then you'll get the colors you want the way you want them. Just a thought. Good luck

Keepsake Quilting sells sand colored batiks. I also saw some Moda jelly-rolls in an off-white kind of sand color - I think on fabric.com.

http://www.fatquartershop.com/latte-...quarter-bundle

These should work nicely for you

I bought a pack of 2-1/2" batik strips called "Meringue". They are Tonga Treats by Timeless Treasure. I needed a scrappy background and this was perfect. I was disappointed because the strips were badly cut (anywhere from 1/8" too small to 1/8" too large, and some had dips in the center, so I haven't bought any more, but they may be perfect for what you are making.

I don't know if you can tell the various shades from this picture.

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Google - quilting jelly roll tans.
Then pick shopping, there are several that show the fabrics fanned out to see what is included.
You could also throw in batiks to see if you get different results.

Thousands of bolts has a line called Chromatic Batiks. Every color under the rainbow.
http://www.thousandsofbolts.com/inde...hromaticbatiks

I'd also use Stonehenge, especially that new one that looks like drifted sand. But if you are wanting batik, check out Fabric Fanatics online--they sell exclusively batiks and have tons of them--sure you'd find something there. I've ordered on-line and have no problems--very quick and exactly what I wanted (and they have many in their sale category).

Have you checked Sew Batik, Batiks Plus, and/or Fabric Fanatics? They all carry batiks and there are some that have textures.

Da Gama Textiles in South Africa has a suitable fabric from their Coral Tree fabrics collection called Sandstone. I know that some of their shweshwe fabrics are sold in the US so you might be able to find this one too. The link to the Sandstone collection is:

http://www.dagama.co.za/index.php?op...115&Itemid=256

look at the 1895 range of batiks they are my go to when I need to make a design.

Try Keepsake Quilting. They have a great fabric selection.

I was also going to recommend Stonehenge products but they are expensive. If Connecting Threads has something that
would work, they are much more reasonable. Good luck.