Fabric & Materials
Blender Fabric
A low-volume print that reads quietly and supports other more dominant fabrics in a quilt.
A blender fabric has a relatively low-contrast, small-scale print that doesn't call attention to itself. Blenders support and connect the more prominent fabrics in a quilt without competing with them. Tone-on-tones, small geometrics, fine textures, and subtle prints all function as blenders. Every quilt benefits from at least some blenders — they provide visual rest and make focal fabrics pop.
Related Terms
Tone-on-ToneA fabric where the print and background are the same or very similar colors, reading as a textured solid.Background FabricThe fabric that forms the negative space behind the primary design in a block or quilt.Focal FabricThe dominant, often large-scale print that anchors a quilt's color palette.
Practice makes perfect.
NiftyFifty connects quilters from all 50 states through block swaps, bees, and quilt-alongs. Great place to put new techniques to work.