A big, beautiful fabric panel is one of the fastest ways to go from yardage to finished project — and the National Parks Wilderness Wonders Panel by Riley Blake Designs is built for it. At a full 54" x 72", this cotton panel from the National Parks collection by the Anderson Design Group features a central 63 American National Parks Wilderness & Wonder patch, surrounded by a patchwork of 63 unique national park posters. Here's what it is, what it's best for, and five ways to use it.
What Is This Panel?
This is an official licensed fabric panel from Riley Blake Designs, printed on 100% cotton. The design is one big scene — a patchwork-style layout showcasing 63 different vintage national park poster artworks, all in the Anderson Design Group's signature retro style. It's part of the National Parks collection, which is made for quilting, apparel, and home decor. Because the imagery is poster art rather than a repeat pattern, it works best as a focal piece: let the panel be the star and keep the supporting fabrics simple.
Five Project Ideas
1. The instant throw quilt. The classic panel treatment: add borders, quilt it, bind it. A couple of wide borders in coordinating solids (think forest green, navy, or barn red) will bring the 54" x 72" panel up to a generous throw size, and the panel itself supplies all the visual interest — no piecing required.
2. A quilted wall hanging. Back the whole panel with fusible fleece, quilt around a few favorite parks to make them pop, and hang it with a rod sleeve. It's an ideal gift for a camper or road-tripper.
3. A quilt back with wow factor. At 54" x 72", this panel can double as a show-stopping quilt back for a lap-size quilt. Quilt from the front as usual and the poster art shows through beautifully on the reverse.
4. Home decor pieces. Cut apart individual park posters for throw pillows, tote bag fronts, or placemats. The poster's built-in border effect means each square already looks finished — just add a simple frame of solid fabric.
5. A cheater's patchwork quilt. Love the look of a patchwork quilt without the piecing? Quilt the panel with a grid pattern right along the printed patch lines, and the finished piece reads like a true patchwork of park posters from across the room.
Tips for Cutting and Piecing
Square up before you measure. Panels can print slightly off-square; measure the full 54" x 72" (or your usable area after trimming) before cutting borders so nothing is fighting a skewed edge.
Fussy-cut with intent. If you're cutting the panel apart, audition layouts first — placing a favorite park (Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon) at the center of a pillow or the middle of a quilt back makes the piece feel designed, not random.
Watch the color load. The poster artwork is colorful and high-contrast. Pair it with solids or tonal prints from the same collection rather than competing novelty prints, so the posters stay the focal point.
Use a walking foot. Quilting a panel this large means a lot of layers under the needle; a walking foot keeps the top, batting, and backing feeding evenly and prevents puckering across the big printed areas.
Color Pairing Ideas
Pull from the posters' retro palette: deep forest green, mustard gold, dusty teal, and warm rust red are all classic Anderson Design Group tones that appear throughout the panel. A solid border in one of these makes the artwork pop, while a tonal dark backing gives the quilt depth. For a modern look, pair with charcoal and cream; for a classic park-lodge feel, go with barn red and forest green.
Care
As with all cotton quilting fabric, prewash before cutting if you want to remove sizing and account for shrinkage (it also softens the crisp panel print). Machine wash cold with like colors and tumble dry low; the retro poster artwork is colorfast when washed gently. Press from the wrong side with a warm iron to keep the printed colors at their brightest.
Shop the National Parks Wilderness Wonders Panel 54" x 72" at Linda's Electric Quilters.
