Rainforest or Native Bloom? Australian-Inspired Panel Quilt Ideas

Are you in a calm, earthy mood, or ready for something vibrant and full of energy?

Sometimes that is all the starting point a sewing project needs. A colour that makes you pause. A piece of fabric you keep coming back to. Something that feels like a walk through the rainforest—or a burst of native blossoms.

For this Wednesday Stitch, I’m bringing together two Australian-inspired collections: Kondalilla Falls and Glorious Gum Blossoms. Both offer a lovely way to let fabric artwork take centre stage, with panels that can become the starting point for a lap quilt, wall hanging or smaller make.

Team rainforest: Kondalilla Falls

There is something deeply calming about greens and blues. Kondalilla Falls, by De Gillett Cox, brings together rainforest colour, flowing water and painterly landscape textures.

If you love cool greens, misty blues and that feeling of being surrounded by nature, this could be your starting place.

A Flow Panel gives you an artwork-led centre to build around. You might frame it for a wall hanging, plan a manageable lap quilt, or choose coordinating prints for cushions with a little landscape character.

For a coordinating print, have a look at Booloumba. Its earthy greens and layered texture offer another way to bring that rainforest feeling into your project.

Team native bloom: Glorious Gum Blossoms

If the rainforest whispers, Glorious Gum Blossoms sings!

Think rich reds, glowing colour, magentas and teals, with native floral artwork that deserves room to shine. This is a lovely direction for a statement wall hanging, a striking cushion or a small quilt with plenty of personality.

The Grevillea Glow Panel can become the focal point of a simply framed design. Prefer smaller pieces of artwork? The 8 Block Panel offers individual designs to consider for cushion fronts, quilt blocks or a grouped wall hanging.

You don’t have to surround a busy print with complicated piecing. Sometimes a simple frame gives the artwork all the attention it needs.

What is a fabric panel?

A panel is a printed piece of fabric with a planned design: perhaps one large picture or a group of smaller blocks. It gives you a focal point without having to piece that picture from separate shapes.

It is a starting point, though, rather than a complete quilt kit. Your finished size and chosen pattern will determine what else you need.

Gather your starting pieces

• Your chosen panel and its listed measurements.
• Coordinating fabric for borders, sashing or cushion backs, according to your design.
• A suitable pattern or a sketch of your intended layout.
• For a quilted project: backing, batting, binding and thread, with quantities worked out for the finished size.
• Your usual measuring, cutting, pressing and sewing tools.

There isn’t one fabric quantity that suits every panel project. Plan your dimensions before ordering the extras.

Let’s plan something manageable

First, choose where it will live. A little space on the wall, a favourite chair or a spot on the sofa can help you decide whether to make a wall hanging, cushion or lap quilt.

Then, choose the artwork. Do you want a whole landscape or smaller floral blocks? Look at the panel’s arrangement before deciding what to cut.

Next, audition your colours. Lay coordinating fabrics beside the panel. Try drawing out a green, blue, magenta or teal already in the artwork. Step back and see which combination lets the panel stand out.

Finally, check the plan. Confirm the panel size, seam allowances and fabric requirements against your chosen pattern before cutting. Keep important details clear of your intended seams.

A little artwork, a lot of possibility

A simply framed panel, a cushion with a favourite floral block, or a lap quilt full of rainforest colour—there are plenty of ways to make the fabric the star.

Start with the collection that speaks to you. You don’t need an elaborate design to enjoy making something that feels unmistakably Australian.

I’d love to hear your choice

Are you team rainforest or team native bloom? Would you make a cushion, wall hanging or lap quilt? Leave me a comment below—I’d love your feedback, questions and requests for future Wednesday Stitch topics.

Happy stitching,
Carrie & Lucy
Everything Fabric