How to Use a Dragonfly Low-Volume Print as a Quilt Background: Pairing and Cutting Tips
Every quilt needs a fabric that knows when to step back — and one that still rewards a closer look. Hush Hush 5 Dashing Dragonflies, designed by Sue Daley for the Hush Hush 5 collection by assorted designers for Riley Blake Designs, is exactly that kind of print. It is a 100% cotton quilting fabric, 43"/44" wide and sold by the yard, featuring colorful dragonflies and pin dots scattered across the surface. It is made for quilting, apparel, and home decor.
What Makes This Print Different
The Hush Hush collections are built around quiet, supporting prints — fabrics for backgrounds, blenders, and breathing room between bolder blocks. Dashing Dragonflies fits that role with a twist: instead of a plain texture, you get small, playful dragonflies and pin dots. From a distance it reads calm and light; up close, it has charm a flat solid cannot offer. That makes it useful where a pure white or cream background would feel stark, softening the negative space around your blocks without stealing attention from the feature fabrics.
Cutting and Piecing with a Scattered Print
Let the direction work for you. Dragonflies scattered across a print generally read as non-directional, so you can cut squares, rectangles, and sashing strips without worrying that every insect must face the same way. Still, take a quick look at your cut pieces before sewing — if a few dragonflies land upside down in an obvious spot, rotate the piece while you still can.
Use it in generous background pieces. Background squares, setting triangles, and wide sashing all show the scattered motif at its best. Very tiny pieces can chop the dragonflies in half and lose the effect, so save your smallest scraps for another project and give this print a little room.
Cut accurately and press well. Press the cotton flat before cutting, use a sharp rotary blade, and sew with a consistent quarter-inch seam. Background pieces frame the blocks, so accuracy here keeps the quilt square and crisp.
Color Pairing: Let the Dragonflies Guide You
The dragonflies are colorful, and that is a gift for palette building. Pull one or two of their colors — a soft blue, a gentle green, a warm coral or yellow, whichever you spot in your cut — and echo them in your feature prints or binding. Repeating even one dragonfly color in a neighboring fabric ties the background to the rest of the quilt.
For a gentle, low-contrast quilt, pair this print with other Hush Hush 5 coordinates and soft pastels. The result is airy and calm, ideal for a baby quilt or a light spring throw.
For more contrast, set it behind saturated florals, deep teals, or rich jewel tones. A quiet background with a tiny bit of life in it makes bold blocks look cleaner and more deliberate than a plain solid would.
Project Ideas Beyond Quilt Backgrounds
1. Baby and lap quilts. Use it as the background around simple patchwork or appliqué — the dragonflies add a storybook quality that suits nursery projects especially well.
2. Apparel. The product notes list apparel as a use, and a scattered dragonfly print is lovely for a child's dress, a light blouse, or a skirt where the motif can repeat uninterrupted.
3. Home decor. Try pillow shams, a table runner background, or curtain accents where the pin dots keep the fabric feeling light rather than busy.
4. Bag linings and pouches. A light printed lining is easier to see into than a dark solid — and finding dragonflies inside is a small delight.
Care
Follow the instructions given for this fabric: machine wash cold and tumble dry low. Pre-washing your yardage the same way is a sensible habit if the finished quilt will be washed often.
If your stash is full of feature prints waiting for the right support, a dragonfly print that whispers instead of shouts may be exactly what pulls them together.
Shop the Hush Hush 5 Dashing Dragonflies Cotton 43"/44" Fabric Per Yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
