07 | Use printed fabric

TIP: We usually like to first use the solid fabric libraries to find color combinations for a quilt. Then, if we'd like to use printed fabric instead of solids, we replace the solid fabric with a printed fabric swatch in a similar color.

Exercise 07

07 | Upload 2+ digital fabric swatches and use one as a Fabric Link.

Objective | To import digital fabric swatches and use them in our quilt blocks.

Did You Know | Using digital fabric swatches gives you a very realistic preview of what your quilt will look like using printed fabric.

01 | Find & Save Digital Fabric Swatches

The first step is to find good quality digital fabric swatches for your printed fabrics. We recommend visiting the fabric manufacturer's website - there are often downloadable swatches organized by fabric collection (a). But you can also download any image of your desired fabric to use as a digital fabric swatch (b).

a | Download a Collection of Fabric Swatches

In this example, we're going to download some Ruby Star fabrics from Moda Fabrics. The steps are similar for all downloads, so adapt these steps to your situation.

Go to the URL for the digital fabric swatch. In this example, I visited https://modafabrics.com/downloads and filtered fabric collections by Sarah Watts.
Moda's fabric download page
Download JPG images onto your computer (click icon in the JPG Images column). In this example, I downloaded the Firefly collection.
Each fabric manufacturer's website looks different
Move and organize the downloaded files on your computer.
- Tip: If you're well organized, you can easily find and import your newly acquired digital fabric swatches.

b | Download Individual Fabric Images

Sometimes it's not possible to find fabric swatches on the manufacturer's website (this is especially true for older fabrics). The next best thing it so find an image of the fabric online.

Google the name of your desired fabric. It's helpful to search with as detailed of information as possible to find the correct fabric image. In this example, I searched for "Robert Kaufman Painterly Petals purple".
Google search results
Click on the desired fabric image to go to the website. In this example, I need to also click on Visit to get to the online shop.
Right click on the desired fabric's image and select Open Image in New Tab.
- Note: This will open only the fabric image in its own tab.
Select Open Image in New Tab to isolate just the image
Right click on the image and select Save Image As.
Your computer's file system will pop-up. Save the image on your computer (where you'll be able to find it).

02 | Import Digital Fabric Swatches to PreQuilt

Now that you have the images saved on your computer, you can import and save them in PreQuilt.

Go to the main Dashboard by clicking on your Avatar and selecting Dashboard.
- Alert: Don't forget to Save your quilt if you're working on one before exiting to the Dashboard.
On the main Dashboard, click on the FABRIC tab.
Click on Bulk Upload on the first tile.
Your computer's file system will pop-up. Select the image(s) you want to use and click on Open.
The filing system of different computer systems and browsers look different. This is a Mac using Chrome.
Your selected fabric swatches are now loaded into PreQuilt.

03 | Editing Fabric Swatches

If you have not yet set the dimensions for your digital fabric swatch, it will be highlighted in yellow.

Fabric swatches are imported using the image's naming convention. You can organize your fabric swatches in PreQuilt, should you wish.

a | Setting Width of Fabric

From the Fabric Dashboard, click on the Edit button for the digital fabric swatch that you want to set the width for.
Enter the width (in inches) of the digital fabric swatch in the top right box. In this example, we were lucky enough to have a ruler along the bottom edge of the swatch. I’ll use that dimension here.
Click on the Save button.
The yellow box will turn to white once dimensions have been set.

b| Cropping Fabric Swatch Images

Sometimes fabric swatch images include a border or ruler that will be propagated in PreQuilt in your quilt design. To ensure it doesn't show up in your quilt, we can crop it out of the fabric swatch image.

Once the width of the digital fabric swatch is set, four separate DRAG buttons will appear on each side of the digital fabric swatch. These can be used to crop the digital fabric swatch.

Click and hold onto the Drag button on the bottom of the digital fabric swatch.
Drag buttons will appear on all 4 sides
Move the blue line from the bottom of the digital fabric swatch up until it is above the ruler. You’ll notice that the ruler will become more translucent and almost hidden.
Cropped out parts of the image will become translucent
Make sure to click on the Save button to retain these changes.
Don't forget to Save any changes you make before exiting.

04 | Use Fabric Swatches in Color Tags

Now that you've imported and edited your digital fabric swatches, let's link the digital fabric swatches to Fabric Links.

Go to the main Dashboard by clicking on your Avatar and selecting Dashboard.
By default, the QUILTS tab will be selected and open.
Click on the Open Quilt button for the quilt we've been working on.
Click on the FABRIC LINKS tab on the left side control panel.
Collapsed Fabric Links tab
Expanded Fabric Links tab
Click on the Edit button next to the Fabric Link you'd like to change. I'm going to start with Fabric Link D.
The fabric library panel will slide out. Click on the PRINTS tab.
Fabric library panel will slide out for editing
Click on the Select button under the printed fabric swatch you'd like to use for Fabric Link D.
When you've chosen your fabric swatch, click on the x button () to exit and save.
You can now see the new fabric is linked to Fabric Link D.
New Fabric Link D fabric
You will now see that our blocks using Fabric Link D now are using to our printed Sarah Watts fabric - and the fabric is being used at the correct scale for the block.

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Last updated 2 years ago