How to Use Two Different Background Fabrics

[Barbara B.]

I have been asked how much background yardage is needed if you want to use two DIFFERENT background fabrics. While this wouldn't have occurred to me, it would work well, especially if you are working from your stash and don't have a large amount of one fabric.

If using two different fabrics for background, here is the yardage:

Inner section--up to outer road 1.5-2 yards, 1.5 yards is minimum
Outer section--large section beyond outer road and borders 2.75- 3 yards

Because someone will ask: if you want the Mariner's compass background different, plan on 1/3 yard for that. Then you need a minimum of 1 1/4 yard for the Small Houses inner circle. This is if you want to use 3 different background fabrics.

Yes, that is more than the 4.25 yards if using only one background--I don't want you to run out and small leftover pieces from the Inner section are used in the Outer section--that won't happen if these are two different fabrics.

I was also asked about Peppered Cottons--a different brand of shot cottons:

Peppered Cottons are shot cottons and they are great--I love them, use them frequently and they will work beautifully in this project. Different manufacturer but similar fabric. Oakshott Cottons is another brand, also the same, woven from two different color threads. Gather a wide variety of colors of solids so you can build interesting houses.

And I was asked if the Bias had to be Black:

The black bias is used for tree trunks and making the Eiffel Tower and Centrepoint Tower. The trees are not real curvy so you can most likely use straight grain--your trees will just be a bit more straight. And you can make your own bias, if you like. Plan on 15-16 yards of 1/4" bias--I like it double folded so there is no raw edges. The prepared bias you can buy has a narrow strip of fusible already in place on the back. making it very easy to use.

[Carol M.]

The pattern calls for 1/3 yard of many of the fabrics. Each piece can fit about 5 sheets of freezer paper going across it. Will all of the colors be more than once for the buildings. A fat quarter can hold 2 pieces of freezer paper. Do the houses use more than one piece of freezer paper each?
My Avatar is my hot flash doll.

[Barbara B.]

The pattern calls for 1/3 yard of many of the fabrics. Each piece can fit about 5 sheets of freezer paper going across it. Will all of the colors be more than once for the buildings. A fat quarter can hold 2 pieces of freezer paper. Do the houses use more than one piece of freezer paper each?
My Avatar is my hot flash doll.

Not sure I understand your question. The fabric is not pressed to the freezer paper as a large piece. The fabric is cut into many small pieces as the buildings are built onto the freezer paper.
Yes, the fabrics are used over and over among the many buildings. Each quilter will decide what fabrics to use in each building so each quilt is unique.

Here is a detail shot of my quilt.

[Helen W.]

Barbara, Cmannconso might have been asking in a round about way if one sheet of freezer paper is large enough to build a house. Or is the house built in units that
are then sewn together. What is the answer to that? I am curious. HelenW

[Barbara B.]

The houses are built individually from many small pieces of fabric==the pattern gives cutting instructions for each piece of fabric and where it goes in the building.

The Show that airs January 1, 2021 will show all this in great detail so I won't answer more specific questions yet on the process. The Show is clear and I will have a blog post January 1,2021, and Wendy has excellent written instructions in the Month 1 pattern that also comes out January 1.

In another Topic here I gave links to two of my blog posts I did this past summer for the Mariner's Compass block--but I DID NOT REVEAL then it was the center of Color My World. Those posts show how this process works also.

[Carol M.]

Thanks. I was confusing it with another technique using freezer paper. Sorry.
Your answer helped.

[Carol M.]

If you wanted to use starry night sky or nebula fabrics for the background, You could use a gold or yellow for the Eiffel Tower. I have seen a photo of it taken at night and it is lighted up in gold/yellow lights.

[Barbara B.]

If you wanted to use starry night sky or nebula fabrics for the background, You could use a gold or yellow for the Eiffel Tower. I have seen a photo of it taken at night and it is lighted up in gold/yellow lights.

Clover does make the Quick Bias 1/4” in Gold Metallic. The Quilt Show Store probably won’t carry it as most will use black but you might be able to find it somewhere.

[Birgit F.]

The real Eiffel Tower is not black. It is made of iron and has a special paint coat. The paint colour changed over time, today it is a grey-beige kind of colour.

[Marsha H.]

Thank you for your really quick response. Off to my favorite fabric store.

[Elsie D.]

I was thinking about using a scrappy variety of backgrounds....mainly of med to dark greys. Would this work or should I use just 1 grey for each section. Ie: 1 grey for the star background and another for the small house section and so on. All of the fabric read as a solid from the distance.

TIA
Elsie

[Birgit F.]

Great idea. I am thinking of using sll the fabrics with script I have collected over time. Why don‘t you use the colouring page and see how it looks with different shades if grey?