Black and White Quilts You’ll Love! (And Red & White Too!)

Few things catch the eye like a two-color quilt. High contrast makes the pattern the star of the show. Red and white and black and white are the two classics, and they work for everything from traditional to very modern.

Why Do Two-Color Quilts Work?

Limiting your colors lets the design shine. With only two colors, the shapes, the angles and the quilting stitches do the talking, and the finished quilt reads as bold and graphic from across the room.

Red and White Quilt Ideas

Red is bold and full of personality, and it doesn’t have to mean Christmas. Red and white is classic, crisp and timeless. Some of the best-loved options:

• A red-and-white Irish Chain
• A bold checkerboard
• Log Cabin blocks with red centers
• Flying Geese in rows, which is a fast way to get a lot of movement

Our reasons to add red to your next quilt post covers more ways to use red, including red and blue, red and gray and red scraps as punctuation in a scrap quilt.

Black and White Quilt Ideas

Black and white can be vintage, or crisp and contemporary, depending on the pattern. Log Cabin, Flying Geese and Double Wedding Ring all look striking, and so do modern, abstract designs with clean lines and negative space. Black and white also works with almost any decor, which makes it a great gift quilt. See our black and white quilt inspiration.

4 Bold Patterns for Red and White Quilts or Black and White Quilts

Here are four Missouri Star patterns to help you get started. The photos show the original samples; Irish Chain can be adapted to your two-color palette. These are purchased patterns, and Irish Chain is a digital download, not a mailed paper pattern.

Kansas Red & White: Amanda Niederhauser’s half-square-triangle design makes a bold bullseye. The finished quilt is 72″ square and the pattern uses 10″ squares. This one already shows the red-and-white palette, so it is easy to picture the finished effect.

Irish Chain (digital download): Linked nine-patch blocks create the chains, with strip piecing instead of cutting every small square separately. The finished quilt is 91″ × 97″ and uses 2½” strips. The sample is multicolored; choose red or black for the chain and white for the background for a two-color version. Check the pattern’s separate border requirements before shopping.

Ditto: Crisp black strips cross the white blocks for a repeating asterisk design. The finished quilt is 51″ × 63″ and uses 5″ light squares and 1½” dark strips. It is a lovely way to let simple solids do the work.

Disappearing Hourglass 3: Cutting and rearranging the blocks creates those curved-looking shapes, even though the piecing is made with straight seams. The pattern uses 10″ squares and finishes at 78″ square. The black-and-white sample makes the contrast especially easy to see.

See the Quilts Up Close

Tips for a Great High-Contrast Quilt

A tip from Jenny’s Ditto demonstration: Finger-press the centers of the light triangles and dark strip so you can line them up before sewing. After pressing, use the ruler’s diagonal line down the center of the dark strip to square the unit to 5½”. Later, check that the sashing seams line up before stitching the rows together. Those little alignment checks matter in a high-contrast quilt. Find the Ditto pattern at Missouri Star.

• Check value, not just color. The light and dark have to be clearly different. Take a photo and turn it to black and white to check.
• Play with print scale. Mix solids with small-scale and large-scale prints so the quilt does not feel flat.
• Use texture. Quilting lines add interest to the white areas.
• Add one accent. A pop of a third color, such as yellow on black and white or gray on red and white, gives the eye a place to land.
• Pick a good white. Pure white, cream and off-white read differently next to red or black, so audition them together first.

These cotton yardage options give you a starting point for choosing a palette. Buy the amounts called for in your chosen pattern, including borders, binding and backing. Before pairing strong reds or blacks with white, follow the fabric maker’s care guidance and test a scrap for dye transfer. Prewash yardage only as recommended; small precuts can fray or lose size in the wash.

Black and White Fabric Options

Start with one solid black, then add variety with a floral, a geometric net print, or a text print. These black-and-white designs include gray shading; audition them beside your solid white to check the contrast.

Solid Black and White Fabric Bolts

Planning several projects or a generous background? These solid Kona Cotton options each come as a 10-yard bolt. Choose White for a crisp light background or Black for bold contrast. Both are 100% cotton; check your pattern’s yardage before ordering.

Red Fabric Options

Choose one red for a clean two-color quilt, or mix red solids and subtle textures for a scrappier look. For a strict two-color design, make sure the lightest parts of a mottled fabric still contrast with the white.

Where to Start

Look at red and white fabric and kits at Missouri Star and black and white fabric. Pre-cuts are a handy way to get a good range of prints in two colors.

Which one are you making first, red and white or black and white? Let us know below!

Happy sewing!
Beth