Shannon Brinkley Studio Blog

How to Mix Prints in your Quilts -- The "Bette Midler Print" Technique Jul 22, 2026

Have you ever fallen head-over-heels for a fabulous print at the quilt shop — brought it home, petted it, admired it… and then never used it, because you couldn’t figure out what on earth to pair it w...

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Understanding Neutrals in Fabric Jul 08, 2026
So often when we are choosing fabrics for our next quilt, we jump right to colors, hopefully grabbing several that make you really happy, but frequently we forget about the quiet, but mighty, neutral!...
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Color Confidence for Quilters– Part 3: Analogous Color Palettes Jun 07, 2021

The right colors in a quilt can make any quilt pattern look amazing. As you likely know, there are 3 layers of design in a quilt: the fabric, the quilt pattern, and the quilting design. Often we spend...

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Color Confidence for Quilters– Part 5: Triadic Color Palettes Jun 07, 2021

As a quilt designer, this might be heresy to say, but I think fabric selection is even more important to the overall look of the quilt than the actual quilt pattern. And the most important element of ...

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How to Mix Large Scale Prints (without it looking like a hot mess!) Apr 21, 2021

Let's talk PATTERN!!!

We all have those fabrics in our stash. The show stoppers. Those prints that practically jumped off the shelves at the fabric store and into your cart!

They are large in scale,...

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How to use that Fun, Large Print? Feb 24, 2021

Do you have any fabrics in your stash that are super cute, but you have no idea how to use them? 

This is SUPER common. We see these cute, large-scale prints at the fabric shop and just have to have ...

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How to Mix Prints in your Quilts Feb 04, 2021

Let's start off the day with a heavy dose of color!

One of the areas quilters struggle with most is color, and specifically print mixing. 

 

I have a stash full of beautiful prints, but how do I ac...

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7 Fabric Palettes for Block of the Month / Sampler Quilts Dec 17, 2019

Choosing fabrics for a BOM or sampler project can be a bit tricky. Since there is so much going on with all the different blocks, having a cohesive fabric palette brings everything together and helps ...

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Mosaic Elephant Quilt Oct 08, 2019

I'm delighted to introduce you to this sweet fellow. He's my most recent finish and is currently on his way to a toddler in San Francisco!

I used my Elephant Scrappy Applique Pattern for the design...

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Icy Fabric Palette Jul 23, 2019

What colors should I choose for my next quilt? This conundrum is SO common amongst quilters. 

A great place to pull inspiration for a fabric palette is through photographs! This can be a subtle way t...

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Which Colors Go Well Together? May 14, 2019

What color goes well with orange? 

I teach quilters from all over the world and a common struggle is COLOR. What colors go well together? Often quilters will have their typical color palettes that th...

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Build a subtle color palette that pops! Dec 06, 2018

I teach quilters from all over the world and one problem I see them struggling with over and over is -- what fabrics should I choose for my projects?!

Whether you've been quilting for years or just s...

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