How to Choose Fabrics for a Scrappy Quilt
There's something wonderfully liberating about a scrappy quilt. No matching, no perfectly coordinated palette — just a glorious mix of prints and colours that somehow comes together into something beautiful. But “scrappy” doesn’t mean “grab anything and hope for the best.” A little thought goes a long way.
Here’s how I approach it — and why Edyta Sitar’s fabric collections are honestly some of the best you can use for this style.
Edyta's rule of 5
Whenevr pulling fabrics for a project, she always work to what Edyta calls her rule of 5. She wants five types of print in her selection: a big print, a medium print, a small print, a stripe, and a polka dot. That’s it. Simple as that.
It sounds almost too straightforward, but it works every single time. The variety in scale and pattern type is what gives a scrappy quilt that lovely sense of movement and depth — without it looking busy or chaotic. Each fabric type plays a different role: the big print adds drama, the small print gives texture, the stripe creates direction, and the dot brings a lightness that ties everything together.
Next time you’re standing in front of your fabric stash wondering where to start, try pulling one of each. You’ll be surprised how quickly a palette comes together.
Start with value, not colour
Before you even think about which colours to use, think about value — the balance of light, medium and dark fabrics. This contrast is what makes your blocks read clearly and gives the quilt its structure. You can mix a dozen different colour families and it will still work beautifully, as long as you have that range of tones.
A quick trick: take a photo of your fabric selection and convert it to black and white on your phone. If you can see a good spread of tones from pale to dark, you’re in good shape.
Edyta’s three colours
I love this question that Edyta Sitar once posed: if you could only use three colours for a year, what would they be? Her answer? Blue, off-white, and cocoa brown.
It’s such a revealing answer — and such a beautiful one. Those three colours sit at the heart of so many of her fabric collections, and when you look at her quilts you can see exactly why they work so well together. The blue brings depth and coolness, the off-white lifts everything and creates breathing space, and the cocoa brown grounds it all with warmth.
It’s a wonderful exercise to try yourself. Pick your three colours, then go back to the rule of 5 — a big print, a medium print, a small print, a stripe, and a dot, all within that palette. You’ll end up with a selection that feels cohesive but still has all the variety a scrappy quilt needs.
Don’t be afraid to mix collections
One of the things I love most about Edyta Sitar’s fabric ranges is that they’re designed to work together across collections. Her colour palette is consistent and harmonious, which means you can pull fabrics from several different ranges and they’ll still feel like they belong together. That’s a real gift when you’re building a scrappy palette.
How much fabric do you need?
For a scrappy quilt, fat eighths and fat quarters are your best friends. They give you enough of each print to cut multiple pieces without committing to a full metre. Our fabric collection includes a lovely range of Edyta Sitar fabrics available by the fat quarter, as well as fabric bundles that are curated to work together beautifully — perfect if you want a head start on your scrappy palette.
Ready to start?
Browse our fabrics and see if you can build your own rule of 5. And if you’d like help choosing fabrics for a specific pattern, just get in touch — it’s one of my favourite things to help with.