Kick start fabric

I’m going to demonstrate one way to choose fabric for a quilt, using a kick start fabric, at a guild meeting. As an example I’ll use this quilt


It’s called Mrs Bouquet; inspired by Hyacinth Bucket in “Keeping up appearances” (a British TV comedy). The flower fabric (curtains & tablecloth from a thrift shop) was the starting point from which I picked lots and lots of scraps in greens, pinks, tans, browns and yellows to (sort of) match. I of course had to throw in some Royal Doulton with hand painted periwinkles, a hand bag, a hat, a telephone and a bucket to honour the spirit of Mrs Bucket.

The idea is that if you start with a multicoloured fabric that you like, and use this as a colour guide when you choose fabrics for a quilt, the fabrics will look good together, even if you take away the initial fabric. The important thing is to choose a variety of values, from light to dark.

Click here for instructions on how to use a kick start fabric