Prism Quilt In Spectrum Cotton
Our classic Prism Quilt is back with a whole new look, a true color explosion inspired by our Spectrum Cotton collection. Twenty six extraordinary colors flicker across this quilt’s field, lively and wonderfully capricious!
Each square is a simple two-piece construction, meditative and systematic to assemble, but arranging them is when the serious fun begins, the play of so many colors skittering from one corner to the other, skipping through the rainbow like a prism spinning in the light.
The final steps of building the quilt top and attaching the backing and binding are a very satisfying completion of a vision realized and a beautiful quilt to treasure forever!
Get started on your own Prism Quilt in Spectrum Cotton with our Prism Quilt Fat Eighth Bundle. It includes 26 fat eighths of our gorgeous garment-dyed Spectrum Cotton. Add the background, binding, and backing colors of your choice and let the play begin!
Originally designed for Purl Soho by Molly Schnick.
Materials
- Contrast Color Fabric: Purl Soho’s Prism Quilt Fat Eighth Bundle, which includes 26 fat eighths of Spectrum Cotton
- Background and Binding Fabric: 2¾ yards of Purl Soho’s Spectrum Cotton. We used the color Desert Dune.
- Backing Fabric: 1¾ yards of Moda’s 200-count Muslin, 90-inch, Natural
- Quilter’s Dream’s Cotton Batting, Request loft, Twin size
- Thread for piecing: A 274-yard spool of Gutermann’s Cotton Sewing Thread in color 1040
- Thread for quilting: A 274-yard spool of Gutermann’s Cotton Sewing Thread to match Background Fabric. We used color 2410.
- A water soluble fabric marker
- A rotary cutter
- A self-healing cutting mat
- A 6½ x 24½-inch non-slip rectangular ruler
- A 12½ x 12½–inch non-slip square ruler
Update, May 2024: You can explore our current collection of beautiful fabrics and supplies on our page of Sewing Tools + Notions!
Size
Finished Dimensions: 52 inches wide x 60 inches tall
Pattern
For the free pattern, please visit our original Prism Quilt story.
I’d love to adapt this into a twin- or queen-sized quilt – any tips on how to do that? This would be my first sewing project in ten years, so I’m amateur at best. I love the warm background color and the bright-but-not-basic rainbow contrast colors.
Hi Winslow,
Thanks so much for the kind words and for reaching out! Each finished square is 4″ so once you know the finished size you would like your quilt to be you can then figure out how many squares you will need. For a twin size quilt, I would suggest getting two Spectrum Cotton Fat Eighth Bundles, or one Spectrum Cotton Fat Quarter Bundle, 4 yards of your background and binding fabric, and 2.5 yards of 90 inch wide muslin for the back. For a queen size, I would estimate you will need 5 yards of the background and binding fabric, three fat eight bundles (or one fat quarter and one fat eighth), and 3 yards of 120-inch wide muslin for the back. This quilt is really quite straightforward so I hope you enjoy sewing it – and using it!
Best of luck and happy stitching!
Julianna
Hi, I’m also hoping to make this quilt as a queen. I’m wondering if the Spectrum Cotton in Desert Dune will be restocked? I’d love to stick to the color scheme in the example, it’s such a great color.
Thank you!
Hi Natalie,
Thanks for reaching out! We will certainly be getting more Desert Dune back in stock! We do not have a firm ETA, but we are hoping that it will arrive soon. You can sign up to be notified when we get it back in stock. To do so, go to the product page, select the color that you are interested in and enter your email address. When the fabric arrives, we will email you right away!
Best,
Julianna
I’m hoping that halving the amount of squares will make the cutest baby quilt for my dear friend. Either way its a wonderful way of using up a tonne of little tidbits of fabric. It’s a dainty and eye-catching design. Thank you for the inspiration : love your site!
I’m a beginner is sewer getting ready to make this beautiful quilt ! Do you need to prewash all fabric?
Hi Hannah,
Thanks for reaching out! Because of the special dye process that we use for Spectrum Cotton, the fabric is already preshrunk, but we still recommend pre-washing to avoid color bleeding in the finished quilt.
Happy sewing!
Julianna
Thanks so much for your pattern. I made the quilt in bright solids with a white background for a friend’s 40th. I added an extra white border as a frame. The instructions for the quilt were excellent. Lots and lots of cutting! I had intended to have it professionally quilted but given our current lockdown conditions here in Australia that didn’t happen so I did it myself! Turned out pretty good. Thankyou again for the pattern. Cheers
Beautiful! Will you be restocking the Prism Quilt Fat Eighth Bundle?
Hi Belinda,
Thank you so much for the kind words! We will indeed be restocking this bundle, although unfortunately, we do not have an ETA. We are working with very limited staff at our warehouse at the moment so we are experiencing delays with restocking our yarn and fabric bundles. If you enter your email address on the product page, we will let you know as soon as it is available!
Best,
Julianna
I love this quilt! I would love to try making it, do you think this pattern is a suitable first time project for a new quilter?
Hi Kate,
Thanks for reaching out! I think this would be a great option for a beginner quilter! It is a pretty basic and straight forward pattern so it should be easy to follow.
Please feel free to reach out with any more questions going forward!
Warmly,
Gianna
Hello! Do you think this bundle will be back in stock anytime soon?
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for reaching out! The original Spectrum Cotton Bundle will no longer be available since some of the colors have been discontinued. However, we actually have new colors coming out this week! So keep your eyes open for our updated bundle!
Warmly,
Gianna
Hi there, just wondering if there is going to be a spectrum bundle available anytime soon? If not, is there a way to order less than a yard of multiple colors?
Thanks!
Hi Jaimie,
Thanks for reaching out! Unfortunately, we had to make the difficult decision to discontinue the Prism Quilt Fat Eighths bundles, and therefore do not have plans to restock them. We’re also currently only offering Spectrum Cotton by the yard.
I apologize for the inconvenience but hope something still catches your eye in our fabric collection! We’re happy to help if you have any other questions as well.
All the best,
Lili
Since the bundles are no longer available, would it be possible for you to provide a list of the colors you included here?
Hi Jess,
Thanks for reaching out! Below is a list of all the colors in the original bundle. Just a heads up though, we’re in the process of discontinuing Spectrum Cotton, so many of these colors are not available anymore!
Patina Green
Vintage Pink
Pine Nut
Whiskey Brown
Terra Cotta
Orange Nasturtium
Yellow Ochre
Raincoat Yellow
Orchid Gray
Orange Gourd
Orange Coral
Orange Russet
Lichen Green
Fresh Buttermilk
Pale Melon
Peach Macaron
Teal Green
Viridian Green
Lilac Blossom
Putty Gray
Duck Egg Blue
Rock Wall
Ocean Fog
Deep Currant
Purple Thistle
Pink Tulip
All the best,
Lili
Hi everyone: I would suggest cutting the squares for the HST to 5inches and then trim the finished HST to 4 1/2 inches. When I cut everything to the size in the instructions, which is 4 7/8, my HSTs came out less then 4 1/2 inches. So give yourself the extra wiggle room by first cutting the squares to 5 inches and then trim to 4 1/2.