Hey everyone. Today we're letting one beautiful fabric do all the talking, and we're turning it into a whole-cloth quilt — no piecing, no cutting a pretty print into little bits, just gorgeous cloth and quilting stitches.
The fabric is the 118" Aqua Candlelight & Romance Toile Cotton Wideback Fabric from Henry Glass & Co, designed by Kim Diehl. It's 100% cotton, and it runs a full 116 to 118 inches wide. That width is the whole ballgame here, y'all.
It's a toile print in a soft aqua. Toile gives you those lovely drawn scenes and motifs spread right across the cloth. On a print this pretty, cutting it up almost feels like a shame. So we don't.
Now, this fabric was made as a quilt back, and it backs a quilt beautifully. But flip it around and use it as the top, and suddenly your quilting stitches become the design. That's the project.
The project: a whole-cloth quilt
A whole-cloth quilt is exactly what it sounds like. One uncut piece of fabric for the top. Your quilting — by hand or by machine — draws the pattern.
Why does this fabric suit it so well? Three reasons. The width means no seams running across your quilt top, ever. The toile motifs give you ready-made shapes to quilt around. And that soft aqua ground shows off your stitching without shouting over it.
What you'll need
- 2 yards of the Candlelight & Romance wideback for a throw about 60" x 72" — the width covers the 60" side with plenty to spare; go up to 3 yards if you'd like a bigger quilt
- Batting, throw size, about 60" x 72" or a little larger
- Backing fabric — a second cut of this same wideback works great, or any quilting cotton you love
- About 1/2 yard of a coordinating cotton for binding, cut into 2 1/2" strips
- Thread that matches or softly contrasts, a walking foot if you're machine quilting, and your favorite fabric marker
How it comes together
First, press your fabric nice and smooth. Lay it out flat and decide which part of the toile you want front and center. Center the prettiest motif. Here we go.
Layer your backing, batting, and top, and baste the whole sandwich well. Whole-cloth quilts shift if you let them, so don't be shy with the pins or the basting spray.
Now the fun part. Start by quilting right around a few of the toile motifs — that's stitch in the ditch's fancy cousin. Then echo those shapes about 1/4" out, and again if you like. One echo is pretty. Two is really really pretty.
Fill the background between motifs with a gentle meander, or keep it simple with a soft grid. On your machine, a stitch length around 3.0 to 3.5 mm gives you a nice relaxed quilting stitch. Quilting by hand? Aim for even stitches over tiny ones — about 8 stitches to the inch is plenty, and even beats tiny every single time.
When the quilting's done, square up the edges, sew on your binding, and you're finished. Just like that.
A few tips before you start
Slow down around the tight curves of the motifs. Push a needle too fast through a sharp turn and that's how needles snap, and nobody needs that. Take your time. It's not a race.
Here's your permission slip, folks. Whole-cloth quilting shows every little wobble, and that's the point. Slightly wavy echo lines look hand-guided and charming, because they are. You're your own worst critic. Your family is just going to see a beautiful aqua quilt and argue over who gets it.
If a full throw feels big for a first try, make the exact same project smaller — a baby quilt or a wall hanging. Same fabric, same stitches, less commitment. Completely up to you. We're not reinventing the wheel here. And if I can do this, y'all can do it.
Alrighty. Thanks so much for spending a little time with me today. We'll see you next time. Bye.
Shop the 118" Aqua Candlelight & Romance Toile Cotton Wideback Fabric Per Yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
