Shannon Brinkley Studio Blog

2 Ways to Make your Scrappy Quilt Look Lovely (and NOT like a hot mess) Apr 17, 2018
You know how some scrappy quilts can look super gorgeous and unexpected, while others look like the quilter had a tad too much wine??

Here are a couple fun effects to make your next scrappy quilt look ...
Continue Reading...
Violet and Gray: A Cool and Eerie Palette Apr 10, 2018
I love these violets and purples alongside these cool grays. It makes for a stark, almost eerie palette. Perhaps it's only eerie since it is made into a giant octopus... who can say?
 
 
Not all ...
Continue Reading...
How to Use Warm and Cool colors in your Quilt Apr 03, 2018
One of my favorite tools that I keep in my fabric selecting toolbox is-- temperature! 
 
A color can be described as warm or cool. Generally, yellows, oranges, and reds are considered warm, while bl...
Continue Reading...
How to Brighten up a Dull Color Palette Mar 28, 2018
Have you ever been making a quilt, and while you're loving the fabrics you've chosen, the overall palette is looking a little dull? 
 
This happened to me while I was making this London Skyline quil...
Continue Reading...
Choosing the Perfect Ground Fabric for MAXIMUM Impact Mar 21, 2018

I wanted to share with you one of my favorite tricks for showcasing the focal point in a quilt.

Let's say you've just made a gorgeous appliqué piece and you're trying to choose a background fabric th...

Continue Reading...
How to add Pops of Color to your Quilt: Part 3 Jan 23, 2018
Have you ever been pulling fabric for a quilt, and thought, how can I make this look more interesting?
 
 
One of my favorite ways to make a color palette instantly more interesting is to add a P
...
Continue Reading...
How to Add Pops of Color to your Quilt: Part 2 Jan 16, 2018
I travel all over the country teaching, and a question I get asked a lot is HOW do I add a pop of color to my quilt? How do I know which color to choose for the pop? 
 
 
 I LOVE adding a pop of
...
Continue Reading...
Color Crush: Cream, Aqua, Chartreuse Oct 31, 2017
Have you ever had that one fabulous piece of fabric that inspired a whole quilt? Well that happened to me recently, but it was a spool of yarn! 
 
In addition to my quilting addiction, I also love k...
Continue Reading...
How to Build a Fabric Palette: Working with Golds Oct 24, 2017
Sometimes a fabric palette will start with one thread of an idea-- sometimes a literal thread. I saw gold embroidery on a dark cobalt fabric, and I knew I wanted to translate that into a quilt. My new...
Continue Reading...
How to Create a Dynamic Color Palette for your next Quilt Oct 19, 2017
I wanted to share my thought process behind the fabric selection for my recent quilt, GLOBE. I often want to include both warm and cool colors in a quilt to create a really dynamic palette. There are ...
Continue Reading...
Color Inspiration: Aqua, Blue, Purple, Gold Oct 10, 2017

When choosing fabric for this quilt I started with several different mints and aquas, dropped in a bright blue, gold, and purple, with black and white accents. I think those blue, gold, and purple pop...

Continue Reading...
Color Inspiration: Blue, Mint, Orange, Magenta Sep 26, 2017

Here is a little color palette inspiration for you! The quilt is made up of all Northcott Solids, but for the fabric pull below, I included some prints so you could see how prints would look in this p...

Continue Reading...