How to Showcase a Family Crest Print: Quilting with Emma Austen Family Crest Green
Some prints are meant to be cut small and blended in. A family crest print is not one of them. Emma Austen Family Crest Green, from the Emma collection by Riley Blake Designs, is a 100% cotton quilting fabric, 43"/44" wide and sold by the yard. The Emma collection is part of Riley Blake Designs' collectible series honoring Jane Austen's six published works, and this is an official licensed product — a genuine piece of that Austen-inspired series, in a rich green colorway built around a family crest design.
What This Fabric Is
At its core, this is a standard-width quilting cotton, so it cuts, presses, and sews just like the other quilting cottons in your stash. Riley Blake Designs lists the Emma collection for quilting, apparel, and home decor, and that versatility matters here: a crest motif reads as heritage and formality, which makes the same yardage work in a quilt, on a pillow, or in a structured garment.
The green ground is part of the appeal. Green was a favorite color of Regency-era interiors and dress, and a deep, classic green gives a crest print the weight it needs. This fabric is designed to be noticed — which shapes how you cut and place it.
Best Uses for a Crest Print
In quilts, give the crest room to show. Use this fabric in larger pieces — setting squares, center medallions, wide borders, or the big patches of a simple patchwork layout — where the full motif can be seen rather than chopped into fragments. A crest makes a natural focal point: build a medallion-style quilt around a single centered cut, or frame repeated crest squares with plain sashing so each one reads like a framed coat of arms.
For home decor, the heritage feel suits throw pillow covers, table runners, and wall hangings, especially in a library, study, or reading corner. For apparel, quilting cotton's crisp hand works for structured pieces such as skirts and vests. It also makes a thoughtful gift for an Austen fan: a quilted book sleeve or a lap quilt for a reading chair, paired with a copy of Emma itself.
Cutting, Piecing, and Color Pairing
Fussy cutting is your best friend with a motif print. Before you rotary-cut, press the fabric, square one end, and lay out your ruler to see exactly which part of the crest each cut will capture. Center the motif in your piece, and cut a test square from a corner if you are unsure how the repeat will land. Save leftover partial motifs for pockets or binding, where a fragment reads as texture.
When piecing, use a quarter-inch seam and press as your pattern directs; this cotton needs no special needles, thread, or techniques beyond good basic practice. For color pairing, green loves cream and ivory, which lighten the palette and echo Regency paper and linen. Gold and mustard tones pick up the heraldic feel of a crest, navy deepens it for a formal, tonal quilt, and soft blush or dusty rose adds the romantic note Austen readers expect. Let this print be the star and support it with solids, small blenders, and other Emma coordinates in supporting roles.
Care
Care follows the listing for this fabric: machine wash cold and tumble dry low. Washing cold and drying low helps cotton hold its color — worth doing for a saturated green — and keeps shrinkage in check. If you combine this fabric with others in a quilt, treat them all the same way before cutting, whether that means pre-washing everything or nothing, so the finished quilt washes evenly.
A family crest says a quilt belongs to someone in particular. Stitched into a quilt, a pillow, or a gift for a Jane Austen lover, Emma Austen Family Crest Green turns a dependable quilting cotton into a small piece of storytelling.
Shop the Emma Austen Family Crest Green 43"/44" Fabric Per Yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
