Cherish Quilt - Show Me Your Basics

This was the fabric bundle that began my love of basics. I’d had an inkling before this that they were useful, but when push came to shove, while scrolling through digital swatches online or scanning across beautiful bolts in a fabric store, I rarely added them to my cart. It just seemed like a lot of money for something that wasn’t completely stunning! Whenever I narrowed down my selection to fit my budget, basics were always the first to go.

Around this time, a group of women, formerly designing fabric under the brand Cotton & Steel, left and created the new brand Ruby Star Society. I’d bought some of their fabrics - the beautiful scatted florals and fun strawberries, but I found their propensity for animals and basic dot prints more of a curiosity than something I would spend my money on. I mostly watched from the sidelines until they left Cotton & Steel, and then it was fun to have some quilting gossip to talk about at fabric shops, and suspense at what they might do next.

When they brought out their first collections as Ruby Star Society, I bought a fat sixteenth bundle of the whole lot, and I’ll be the first to admit that it was because of all the fuss, and not because I was completely struck by the fabric. I wanted to make a new Cherish Quilt, and I wanted people to talk about it and share it and make it because it was made from these fabrics everyone was excited about.

The bundle was very different to what I usually chose to work with. Animals and birds and telephones with rainbows and ice-creams and soda bottles. And there were lots and lots of basics. I split them into piles, separating out the ones I wanted to use for the centre hexagons first. I didn’t want to use them up on outside rounds by working on only a few blocks at once. I cut and basted the hexagons, and then spread out the basics between them, again so I wasn’t just left with browns and greys at the end. Then I set about cutting and basting and putting my prepared blocks in zip lock bags.

I learned a really important lesson during this Cherish quilt - I LOVE the look of my finished blocks with all of those simple fabrics I’d snubbed my nose at! Before this, I’d mostly chosen fabric based on how pretty or interesting it was. I hadn’t properly thought about how different fabrics would make my blocks look pretty or interesting. These fabrics let the shapes and the pattern do the talking. They acted as support and cheer squad for the fun prints in the centres. What a revelation!

It was a real education to me, to not be drawn to any of these fabrics specifically, certainly not enough to buy a half yard, and yet from them, I made a quilt I really loved. I changed my fabric shopping from buying works of art, to buying ‘paints’ - fabrics that would work well inside the small shapes of English Paper Piecing, that would play well with others, that would help me create the overall look I was trying to achieve. I started to focus on building a collection of colours, filling gaps I had in my stash, rather than just buying the latest collections.

Read more about how I shop for my stash here!

Now the largest proportion of fabric I buy is basics from Ruby Star Society! Over the last couple of years, I’ve been buying bolts of my favourites and making my own bundles for those of you who, like former me, have stashes of stunning works of art. If your stash needs some ‘basic’ support, browse the bundles below. They're a great way to invest in a whole array of basics and occasional florals without needing to fork out for a half yard of each.