Hugs and Kisses, Scattered Across Coral Cotton
Love You Always XOs Coral Cotton is a quilting cotton from the Love You Always collection by Sandy Gervais for Riley Blake Designs. It is 100% cotton, measures 43"/44" wide, and is sold by the yard. The print features scattered X's and O's — the familiar shorthand for hugs and kisses — on a coral ground. Riley Blake Designs describes Love You Always as great for quilting, apparel and home decor, and this playful print fits all three uses.
Unlike a large novelty print, a scattered X and O design works at two distances. From across the room it reads as warm coral with lively texture and movement. Up close, the individual letters emerge and give the fabric its affectionate message. That dual character lets it carry a Valentine's, anniversary, or baby theme, or serve as an energetic blender in an everyday quilt.
What This Fabric Is Best For
In quilts, this print is at its best as a supporting fabric that brings warmth and motion to patchwork. Use it in squares, rectangles, and strips alongside larger prints or plainer basics, as sashing or an inner border that adds color between blocks, or as binding, where the small, scattered motifs wrap neatly around a quilt's edge without needing to be matched at the corners. It also makes a cheerful backing for a smaller quilt, where the repeat can be enjoyed across a larger expanse.
Beyond quilts, it suits the apparel and home decor uses the collection is made for. Consider a child's dress or skirt, an apron, cushion covers, or a table runner. The scattered scale is especially forgiving for small gift makes — drawstring bags, zip pouches, fabric hearts, and sachets — because no single motif has to survive the cut for the piece to read clearly.
Cutting, Piecing, and Color Pairing
Before cutting, press the fabric flat and look at how the X's and O's are distributed. Because the motifs are scattered rather than arranged in a strict repeat, there is no pattern to match at seams, which makes this a forgiving fabric for patchwork. For a focal piece such as a cushion front, it is still worth positioning your cut so the distribution looks balanced rather than clustered in one corner.
Piece size controls how the print performs. Cuts large enough to show several X's and O's at once preserve its character and let the message be read. Very small pieces will read mostly as textured coral — a useful effect if you plan for it, but a disappointment if you expected the letters to show. Let the fabric do one clear job in each block: pair it with calmer solids and basics so its pattern supplies the energy, or use it in smaller amounts to bridge companion prints that share its warm tone.
For color pairing, start with the coral ground. Cream and white lift it and keep the look light and romantic; soft pinks deepen the Love You Always theme; and stronger contrasting colors from your own palette can pull the coral toward a bolder, more everyday direction. Audition it next to your other choices in natural light, judging from a few steps back as well as up close — this print changes with distance.
Care
Follow the care given for this fabric: machine wash cold and tumble dry low. Washing before combining several fabrics lets each settle before sewing, and pressing after washing gives a flat surface for accurate cutting. Store leftovers folded out of direct sunlight.
A scattered X and O print earns its place in a stash by being more than a holiday novelty. With thoughtful piece sizes and pairings, this coral cotton says "love you always" in quilts, clothing, and home makes all year round.
Shop the Love You Always XOs Coral Cotton 43"/44" Fabric Per Yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
