Making Quilts with Black or Dark Backgrounds

Jen Wagner
Apr 1, 2024
2 min read

Using dark fabrics in a quilt is amazing because they make the color from the other fabrics pop! While the result is stunning, it's different than working with a lighter background. Read on to discover the tricks I learned while making my All Together Now cover quilt.

Tips for Making a Quilt with a Black or Dark Background

Not all black fabrics are the same. Some have brown undertones, some blue, some green, etc. Hold your other fabrics against the black fabric to see if they work. Better yet, get all the black fabrics that you're considering together and suddenly their undertones become visible. Start with quality fabric so you don't have as much risk for fading. Keep your quilt out of direct sunlight.
When you purchase your black fabric, get it all off the SAME BOLT. Make sure you have enough and cut it carefully so you don't run out. When I got my fabric, I was going to make the throw size but then decided to make the twin and I did not have enough black fabric. When I went to get more, it didn't perfectly match. In real life it's hard to tell but the camera sees it (see the photo above) and I notice the two tones.
Mark it up. Shadows disappear on dark fabric making it hard to see anything so find a good way to mark. I had to use a lot of white chalk to mark my quilting designs because otherwise I couldn't see a darn thing.
Make your quilting show. Quilting with black thread on black fabric means the quilting disappears. When we use a tone on tone on a lighter fabric, it's still very visible because where the stitching is, the quilt is compressed creating shadows but there are no shadows on black fabric! To make the quilting show better, use a navy, deep emerald, dark purple, or slate colored thread. Make it dark enough that the color isn't that noticeable but light enough to catch the eye. So instead of shadows, use highlights to make the quilting show. I used black on black because I wanted the blocks and border to be what this quilt is about. I needed a cover quilt that showed off the pattern but to win a best machine quilting ribbon, the quilting needed to shine more.
Lint management. I used a natural colored batting. While quilting it and after washing it, there are some noticeable batting fibers coming through. However, if I had used a black batting, my batiks may have appeared dull. Plus all lint, thread, and pet hair are highly noticeable on a black quilt so I keep a lint roller nearby and go at it before displaying or photographing my quilt.
More lint management. After finishing this quilt, I found black lint in my sewing machine, longarm, and rotary cutter so a deep clean was necessary before moving on to a light colored project.