I’ve had quite a few questions about the fabrics I used for my Mormor cover quilt, so let’s take a closer look!
This fabric pull actually started at QuiltCon earlier this year. I came home with a Fat Quarter bundle of Fableism Watercolor Wovens that I purchased from Lo & Behold Stitchery, plus a few Fat Quarters I picked up from the Ruby Star Society booth and a mustard gingham from Material Goods.
None of them were bought with a particular quilt in mind, but I loved how they went together. Turns out they were waiting for Mormor!
Starting with light and dark
Mormor is built around pairs of light and dark fabrics. For each pair, you need enough contrast between the two fabrics for the pattern to show clearly.
So when I started pulling fabrics from my Watercolor Wovens bundle, I basically divided them into two piles.
For the dark pile, I picked the deeper grays, greens, teals, mustard and brown. For the light pile, I pulled the palest colors from the bundle.
I was left with a few wovens of more medium value that I set aside for a different quilt. But I also let a couple of these medium value fabrics sneak into the light pile – a grayish green and a light brown. They still had enough contrast with the darker fabrics I paired them with, and that’s really what matters.
Adding prints
I needed a few more fabrics than the Watercolor Wovens alone, so I added some prints from my QuiltCon haul and a few more from my stash.
The four little rolled-up fabrics in the photo are all Fat Quarters I bought from the Ruby Star Society booth at QuiltCon:
- Stamped Flowers in Dove – RS4073-11, Ruby Star Society
- Add It Up in Blue Slate – RS4005-37, by Alexia Marcelle Abegg
- Pearls in Watercress – RS9034-14, from the Endpaper collection by Jen Hewett
- Add It Up in Earth – RS4005-46, by Alexia Marcelle Abegg. I’m pretty certain this is the Earth colorway, although I can’t say for sure.
The mustard gingham was another QuiltCon find, this time from Material Goods. I believe it is Robert Kaufman Yarn Dyed Classic Wovens in Mustard Gingham. Although I'm not totally sure: Mine is a lovely soft, muted mustard – a little less bright than it looks in some photos online.
Shopping my stash
Once I had my QuiltCon fabrics together, I went digging through my stash for a few more prints that would work with the palette.
Three came from Bird is the Word by Kimberly Kight for Ruby Star Society:
- Whippoorwill in Sandbox – RS3078-11
- Pansy in Sandbox – RS3079-11
- Violet in Natural – RS3083-11
And then there was Knit in Shell – RS2037-11, from the Purl collection by Sarah Watts for Ruby Star Society.
That one could hardly have been more appropriate! The Mormor quilt pattern was inspired by traditional Norwegian knitwear, and there I was with a fabric called Knit, from a collection inspired by yarn, already sitting in my stash. Of course it had to go in.
Backing and binding
For the backing, I used William Morris Willow Bough in Linen. I am usually not one to head for anything grey, but in this case I love how the soft warm gray and cream works with the muted colors on the front.
I bought the wideback from Sy-snacks here in Norway, who also did the longarm quilting on my Mormor quilt. And there was even enough backing fabric left over to use for the binding – which I think worked out perfectly. I really like how the little leaf print adds some interest without adding another color to the mix.
Mixing collections? Absolutely.
One of my favorite things about this fabric pull is that it isn’t really a collection at all.
There are woven fabrics, quilting cottons, tiny florals, birds, gingham, geometric prints and even little knitted stitches. They’re from different designers and different collections.
What ties them together is color and value.
I kept the palette fairly muted – soft greens, teal, gray, mustard, brown and warm neutrals – and made sure I could create pairs with enough contrast between the light and dark fabrics.
So if you’re looking at your stash and thinking you don’t have the perfect coordinated bundle for Mormor: you really don’t need one.
Start by making two piles – lights and darks – and see what happens when you start pairing them up!