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Watch the video: “My latest African Fabrics Fabric Haul” by Quilt and Color
If your stash has been leaning a little too neutral lately, consider this your permission slip to go bold. In this haul video, Shelina tours a table full of African wax block prints—front-and-back vibrant, border-treated, and brimming with fussy-cut opportunities. This guide turns her show-and-tell into practical quilting moves you can try on your next top.
What you’ll learn
- How to read complex prints for borders, sashing, and feature blocks
- When to fussy cut motifs (and when to let the fabric do the work)
- Smart buying tips: motif scale, fabric width, realistic pricing
- Pre-washing and colorfastness checks to protect your quilt
My Exciting African Fabric Haul Shelina traces this colorful rabbit hole back to a sale mentioned on Mrs. O’Quilt’s blog, which led to a basket of one-yard cuts—nearly all wax block prints. Think energetic color stories, graphic borders, and reversible-looking saturation.
She shows several cuts folded lengthwise to reveal overall scale, pointing out the selvage text that verifies wax block printing on multiple pieces. These prints are as punchy on the back as they are on the front—a hallmark of the technique and a nice perk when seams flip or bindings reveal a hint of wrong side.
How I Discovered These Fabrics The haul started with a simple blog read and a sale mention. Shelina shares that she was born in Africa, which adds meaningful excitement to finding these prints online. She also notes she’d seen similar yardage at a flea market, sold in three-yard apparel cuts—more than she needed for quilting at the time.
What Makes African Fabrics Unique The wax-resist process yields saturated color and crisp motifs, often double-sided in appearance. Selvedge markings like “guaranteed” or “veritable” wax block print appear across the haul. You’ll also spot frequent border treatments along both fabric edges, which opens options for frame-like borders or banded sashing.
A Closer Look at Each Fabric Let’s translate Shelina’s walk-through into quilter-friendly ideas—when to fussy cut, when to use whole, and when a print begs for border duty.
Vibrant Patterns and Colors - Orange waves: An energetic ground that can read as a textured background or be strip-cut to emphasize the movement. The selvage confirms wax block print.
- Red/yellow/black circles with borders: Border treatment on both sides means instant frame potential. Use it whole for borders or cut the circles for medallion centers.
- Orange dotted with birds and the map of Africa: A natural for fussy cutting—birds for cornerstones, a single map motif for a label or a block center. There is only one complete map print visible in her cut.
- Yellow/blue swirls: Large-scale, repeating movement that could become a striking outer border or big block centers.
- Purple/green/gold hexagonal spirals: An optical feast with a strong radiating effect—perfect for feature blocks that you don’t slice too small.
- Black & white stripes with bold geometry: A flexible workhorse for borders or long sashing runs. Its neutral palette can unite many colorways without competing.
- Purple/blue/green interconnected ovals: A bridge print—use it where you want multiple palettes to meet harmoniously.
- Cheddar with mudcloth-style blocks: Earthy color, crisp white motifs. It can ground a busy quilt as a background or donate repeatable shapes for fussy-cut units.
- Blue/yellow/black wavy optical pattern: Built-in motion that reads like an optical illusion even before piecing. Try it for borders or background to turbocharge simple blocks.
- Tan floral with purple/green blossoms: Labeled “Guaranteed Real Super Mama,” not explicitly wax block. The background’s linear feel evokes musical notation—use this gentle rhythm to contrast sharp geometrics.
- Green with purple flowers: Simple, striking, and well-suited for border strips where the flower spacing remains intact.
- Multi-color complexity in a Kente cloth style: Primary-rich, design-dense. Use as a wholecloth top, a backing with personality, or fussy cut endlessly.
- Red/orange hexagonal dots: Works brilliantly when paired with a solid white, gold, or another quiet background to let the warm tones pop.
- Orange/white geometry with triangles and circles: Excellent for borders and sashing; just plan around quarter-inch seam loss so motifs land where you want them.
- Yellow/blue/teal “eye” and diamond bands: Intriguing, high-contrast stripes that behave beautifully as border or sashing runs.
- Blue/orange with lines and large ovals: Big motifs beg for large-cut placement—don’t reduce it to crumbs.
- Traditional Kente colorway (green, orange, red, black): A steady, repeating pattern with border treatments on both sides—prime for framing a quilt center.
Wax Block Prints and Their Characteristics Shelina highlights that on many of these cuts, the back appears nearly as vibrant as the front. This is common with wax-resist processes and can be helpful in piecing: turned seams don’t produce the dull “wrong side” look you sometimes fight with other prints. This can be especially welcome in bindings, mitered borders, and any pattern that risks exposing the reverse.
Pro tip When a fabric includes a border print along both selvedges, audition it mitered in the corners for a polished frame effect—and cut a test corner to confirm the motif symmetry before you commit.
Creative Ways to Use African Fabrics in Quilts These prints thrive when you let them speak. Shelina keeps returning to two ideas: featuring bold motifs and pairing with quieter grounds.
Fussy Cutting Motifs Birds, maps, circular medallions—when a motif is special, isolate it. Cut with generous seam allowances to avoid nipping edges. A star block center is a classic showcase, and flying geese or half-square triangles can echo colors outward without stealing the show.
- Try a motif-centered sawtooth star: a bold print in the center, solids for points.
- Cornerstones and label panels are terrific homes for one-off icons like a map of Africa.
Pairing with Contrasting Backgrounds Shelina recommends solids or mottled textures to spotlight the prints. If your feature fabric is hyperactive, a calm field—white, gold, charcoal, or any single-tone—turns up the contrast and keeps the eye from scattering.
Quick check Before committing a border print to sashing, mark where the quarter-inch seam allowance will land so the intended band remains intact once stitched and pressed.
- For optical patterns (like the blue/yellow/black waves), let simple blocks—like rail fences or plus signs—ride the energy of the print.
- For mudcloth-style repeats or cheddar grounds, keep pieces medium-to-large so motifs stay legible.
- Black-and-white geometric stripe? Use it to separate clashing color families and restore order.
Watch out Although many wax prints are colorfast, Shelina advises pre-washing or at least testing for colorfastness. Some cuts arrive with a pleasant stiffness; washing relaxes the hand so seam intersections behave.
Essential Tips for Buying African Fabrics Online Shelina’s buyer’s checklist is practical and refreshingly honest.
Understanding Motif Size and Fabric Width
- Motif scale: When buying online, hunt for a size bar or any scale reference. Inaccurate assumptions about scale can derail plans for fussy cutting.
- Fabric width: She notes that what is considered “standard” width has shifted over time—from 60 inches to 45, 42, and even 32 inches in some listings. Always read the product description before comparing prices across shops.
Pricing and Shipping Expectations Shelina reports that many African prints she sees in the U.S. are priced around $4.99 per yard at the moment featured in the video. Her haul didn’t include free shipping, but the price per yard was compelling enough to proceed—and there was no minimum to qualify for a shipping discount, which meant she could buy exactly what she wanted in one-yard cuts.
Colorfastness and Pre-washing Recommendations Shelina recommends pre-washing to remove stiffness and to test for colorfastness before the fabrics enter a project. A simple swab or soak test with a white scrap will put your mind at ease.
From the comments No viewer comments were available for this video at the time of writing, so community Q&A isn’t included here.
My Quilts Featuring African Fabrics Shelina shares a quilt made with circles cut from assorted African fabrics (she used a CD as a template) and arranged on a background—a playful, approachable technique that spotlights fabric variety.
She also shows a block-of-the-month quilt from sentimentalstitches.net, and notes she experiments across modern, art, improv, traditional, and crazy quilts. Finally, she teases a work-in-progress made from this very haul—proof that inspiration turns quickly into action when the palette is this lively.
Micro-ideas to Spark Your Next Start
- Wholecloth top: Let the multi-color, Kente-style yardage be the star—bind in a calm solid.
- Border showcase: Use dual-selvedge border prints for instant frames; miter corners to spotlight symmetry.
- Motif medallion: Center a single bird or map in a compass or star block and echo its colors with geese.
- Contrast magic: Pair sizzling warm prints with a cool, mottled teal; pair hyperactive brights with crisp white or charcoal.
Cross-over embellishment ideas for quilters who embroider Some quilters add lightweight embroidery accents over bold prints—think outline stitching around fussy-cut birds or a name on a label made from a calm coordinate. If you embellish this way, a stable hooping setup makes life easier. For example, many crafters like the ease-of-use associated with magnetic embroidery hoops when floating labels or quilting cotton on an embroidery machine.
If you’re just exploring, starter-friendly machines are widely discussed in crafting circles—people often search for embroidery machine for beginners to find an approachable setup. For those who prefer removable magnet frames, terms like magnetic embroidery frames or embroidery magnetic hoop come up a lot in tutorials. And if you ever need sturdier holding power for thicker quilt labels or small quilt sandwiches, you’ll see makers mention mighty hoop systems as a strong-hold option. Prefer latch-on frames that split open? Many tutorials reference snap hoop monster for quick hooping, while others talk more broadly about magnetic hoops for embroidery when comparing different brands. Choose what matches your machine and project thickness, and always test on a scrap first.
Conclusion: Embrace the Richness of African Textiles Shelina’s haul is a master class in reading bold fabric. Use border-treated yardage to frame, fussy cut iconic motifs to feature, and let solids or mottled grounds give your prints room to breathe. Confirm scale before you buy, verify width for price comparisons, and pre-wash to remove stiffness and test colorfastness. With a handful of thoughtful choices, these vibrant wax prints transform from pile to powerful quilt—alive with energy, history, and joy.
FAQ Q: What are African wax block prints? A: They’re produced with a wax-resist dyeing process that yields vivid, often reversible-looking patterns and crisp motifs.
Q: How can I gauge motif size online? A: Look for a size bar or scale reference in product images; otherwise, rely on listed motif measurements when provided.
Q: Do these fabrics bleed? A: Many are colorfast, but pre-washing and a quick colorfastness test are smart steps before piecing.
Resources referenced in the video
- Mrs. O’Quilt’s blog was mentioned as the source of the sale Shelina followed.
Try this today Pick one bold print from your stash. Cut a large center square and surround it with simple star points in a quiet solid. The contrast will do the heavy lifting—and you’ll see exactly why Shelina loves these fabrics.