Monday is all about Fabric – #52 – What is Low Volume?

 There is a lot of words thrown around by quilt makers that might leave an outsider or new quilter scratching their head.  The What Is Series is where I tackle those topics.

View all articles in the series here.

If you have something that you wanted covered, please let me know by contacting me here.

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Let’s sip tea and get comfy

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Hey sweet peeps!

I got some new fabric!  Woo hoo!  Plus, today I’m covering a topic that I have got many, many requests to cover.  What is low volume, you’ve asked?  Let’s get straight into the yummy details.

Find all Monday posts here.

 

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Before getting into what low volume is let’s talk about my new fabrics.

Here’s what you are looking at:

• Libs Stitches in Melon – Karen Lewis by Robert Kaufman fabrics
• Speckled in Pink – Holly DeGroot by Cloud 9
• Sweetness Vintage in White – Tasha Noel by Riley Blake Fabrics

 

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What is Low Volume Fabric?

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Low volume fabric is fabric that is very light in color, but not necessarily white.  It’s a print fabric, not a solid.  There is a vast spectrum of low volume fabrics, from very busy to very “low”.

The prints above are examples of your typical low volume.  Low volume can also be colors such as pale pink or really any pale color, but when you look at it on a quilt your eyes will just see a “light” color.

Here’s a few more low volumes in my stash.  Notice the difference between the first two fabrics compared to the last two or even the stripe.  Still, I call all these low volume.

If you have been following me for awhile, you know I have quite the love affair with these kind of fabrics.  I like to use scrappy low volume backgrounds in my quilts.  In fact, if I’m not doing that the quilt simply doesn’t feel like my work.

I will admit to Etsy being my favorite place to purchase low volume bundles.  I do like to purchase them in bundles and honestly the print part doesn’t matter to me as much as the variety does.

Here’s a few that I’m currently crushing on (click image for purchasing details):

    

I was first turned on to low volume fabrics after purchasing this book.  After reading it, I became quite obsessed with the look they lend.  They make me think of slowness, cloudy days, with an ethereal quality.  Check out my Pinterest board of Low Volume Quilts here.  If you think you know how obsessed I actually am, think again.  When I have an order for a custom quilt and need to buy fabric for that quilt, I always sneak a little low volume in too, just a half yard or two or three.  Sometimes I just pull them out of their drawer to pet them.  What?  Don’t judge me!  You know you do the same thing. 🙂

Below is a few of my own quilts with low volume:

   

If you are equally smitten let me know in the comments.  Hugs and thanks for reading!