Why I love black and white fabrics

Black and White (and sometimes shades of gray)

While it's true that one can never have too much fabric (I decided to open a fabric store, but really... it's just my overflowing personal fabric stash 😉), having a variety of colors, tones, prints, solids, and a handful of exotic materials (dupioni silk anyone?) can really add personality to the mix.

I feel that I can look through my personal fabric stash and browse the aisles of fabric at my fabric store (Fab Fabrics in St. George, Utah) and recall the feelings I had when I bought the specific fabric. The colors or print tell a story of what inspired me, what projects I was working on at the time, or something more simple, like falling head-over-heels for some unnamed reason.

While I'm a big fan of colors, especially bright and bold colors, I have a lot of neutral-colored fabrics in my stash. I think it's because of the universal nature that neutral tones match so well with pretty much everything. In the old days, you could choose from white, off-white, beige, and cream. These were the only colors that made up the neutral pallet. Today, you can choose from tan, eggshell, alabaster, sandbar, repose, new white, string, cord, and thousands more! These hues have a slightly different tint that lends well to greens, blues, or reds. 

Using neutral-colored fabrics as part of a quilt or making a neutral-colored quilt has become something of a joy for me. The way the quilted thread looks as it pops against a cream background can show the depth of design and accent the topstitching. I also have made several quilts with a neutral color scheme where I've used a matching or invisible thread on top and it blends in so well, that the fabric appears to show an unknown texture and creates a spectacular effect.

I've chosen to stock an extensive selection of white, off white, cream, tan, black, and black and white fabrics that make beautiful backgrounds (and foregrounds, too). Some of my favorite quilts that I've seen at many of the quilt shows I've attended are gorgeous white-on-white quilts made from subtly-printed white-on-white prints. They look crisp and provide a wonderful contrast when quilted. 

At my quilt store in St. George, we regularly change the quilts that hang on the wall to feature new quilters, favorite local quilters, new kits, and even a few staff quilts! It's been a lot of fun to rotate through and showcase the colors, sizes, and blends of designs. We have a quilt on display now with a lovely contrast of white and black fabrics. It's definitely a crowd-pleaser and gets plenty of attention in that section of the quilt store.

Abstract prints or geometric shapes of black printed onto a white background can create incredible depth and space on a quilt, too. I love looking at quilts that use these fabrics from afar, then walking up close and inspecting how it changes the entire feel of the quilt. It can be almost an illusion in itself depending on what thread is used to quilt and the stitch pattern.

Please browse through our selection of black and white fabrics. I hope you find inspiration in these colors, just like I have.