How to Use a Creation-Story Stripe: Borders, Binding, and Faith-Inspired Quilts with Seven Days in Clay
Some fabrics are chosen for a single block. Others help tell the story of the whole quilt. Created with Love Seven Days in Clay is a Riley Blake Designs quilting cotton designed by Jennifer Long, sold by the yard in a continuous cut. It is 100% cotton, 45 inches wide, and part of the Created with Love collection. The pattern is the Seven Days stripe — a creation-story stripe in warm clay tones — and it is suited to borders, binding, and projects paired with other Created with Love coordinates. That mix of a directional stripe, an earthy color, and a meaningful theme makes it a versatile supporting fabric for inspirational quilts.
What This Fabric Is
Seven Days in Clay is a standard-width quilting cotton, the 44/45-inch class most patchwork patterns are written for. You can use it in blocks, sashing, borders, and binding without adjusting pattern yardage the way you might for a wideback. Because it is sold by the yard as a continuous cut, a longer order arrives as one piece — especially helpful when you want an unbroken length for a border.
The color is clay, a warm, earthy tone between brown, terracotta, and soft red. Warm neutrals like this pair well with cream and ivory backgrounds, and they can ground brighter prints without overwhelming them.
Why a Stripe Works Differently
A stripe is directional, so it rewards planning before you cut. Run it lengthwise along a border and it draws the eye around the quilt, framing the center. Turn it across a block and it adds movement or a ribbon-like effect. Before cutting, lay the fabric out, decide which direction the stripe should travel, and mark that direction on the back of your strips.
For long borders, cut strips parallel to the length of the fabric where possible so the stripe stays continuous. If you must join strips, join them where the stripe lines up. Mitered corners suit striped borders well: the stripes turn the corner together like a picture frame — pin and check the miter before stitching.
Five Ways to Use It
1. Quilt borders. A striped border in warm clay adds structure to a soft, inspirational quilt top and gives light-colored blocks a defined edge.
2. Binding. Cut on the bias, a stripe produces a lively diagonal effect around a quilt's edge. Cut straight-grain, it gives a calmer, parallel line. Test a short length against your quilt top before committing.
3. Sashing and inner borders. Narrow striped sashing separates busy blocks and keeps rows visually aligned, and a thin inner border creates a clean transition to a wider outer border.
4. Pieced backs. A band of stripe across a plain backing echoes the front of the quilt and uses yardage efficiently.
5. Faith-inspired gifts and decor. The creation-story theme suits inspirational quilts, wall hangings, table runners, and gift quilts for occasions such as baptisms, weddings, or new babies, especially with other Created with Love coordinates.
Cutting, Piecing, and Care Tips
Use a sharp rotary blade and a clear ruler when cutting stripes; accuracy shows more on a directional print than on a scattered one. Check that strips are cut on grain so the stripe does not drift, and press by lifting and placing the iron rather than sliding it, which can distort strips. Pin at regular intervals on long border strips to prevent wavy borders.
As a 100% cotton quilting fabric, handle it like your other quilting cottons: pre-wash if that is your practice for the whole project, wash finished quilts gently, dry on low, and wash warm tones with similar colors the first time.
A good stripe earns its place by doing quiet, structural work: framing, finishing, and tying colors together. Seven Days in Clay does that work while also carrying the creation story at the heart of the Created with Love collection — a thoughtful choice for quilters who want their fabric to mean something as well as match something.
Shop the Created with Love - Seven Days - Clay 44" / 45" Fabric Per Yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
