--- title: "How to Fracture a Quilt" date: 2023-08-26 author: "Quiltweb" featured_image: "https://quiltweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Fractured-top.jpg" --- # How to Fracture a Quilt Fracturing a quilt is a great way to showcase a panel or large scale design. There are several ways to fracture a quilt. Here is how I made this quilt, which was inspired by the [Fantasia pattern](https://scrapdash.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Fantasia-Fracture-Update.pdf) by Broome Street Patterns. Use the green Print button under this article to print this page. If that doesn’t work, try Ctrl-P or Flower-P. That should bring up the Printer Dialog box. ## The Outlaw Biker Quilt [![Outlaw-Biker Quilt](https://quiltweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Outlaw-Biker.jpg)](https://quiltweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Outlaw-Biker.jpg) The quilt above was created using a 35″ x 44″ quilt panel of a motorcycle, called **Live to Ride.** [![Motorcycle with fiery background and flames, live to ride, adrenaline, biking passion, motorbike image.](https://quiltweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Live-to-Ride-Panel.jpg) ](https://quiltweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Live-to-Ride-Panel.jpg) Since this panel was to be fractured, I had to remove the top and bottom section so I didn’t cut through the legends. This gave me a section that was 35″ x 27″. After auditioning several colors, I decided that I wanted to sew a red top and bottom border on this section, followed by a gold border. ![Bold black and yellow banner with "Live to Ride" and "Ride to Live" printed in red, perfect for motorcycle or biking events.](https://quiltweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/OB-Legend.jpg) I sewed on the red border, then folded the quilt vertically and cut it every 3″. That gave me a larger section for the middle. At the time, I thought I would moved the pieces up and down like a bargello and then sew on the gold. When I auditioned the black fabric for the bars I decided against that. I thought you wouldn’t be able to see the motorcycle very well. So I had to add each gold piece individually. [![Auditioning fabrics for a fractured motorcycle quilt](https://quiltweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/OB3.jpg)](https://quiltweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/OB3.jpg) Because I wanted to make this into a larger quilt, I decided to cut the bars 2″ wide. In retrospect, that was not the best idea. It made the motorcycle look like it was in jail. No worries. It’s not a design flaw, it’s a feature! The quilt was promptly named “The Outlaw biker. After sewing the middle section and adding a thin blue border to pick up the blue in the bike, it was time to add the legends. I decided to surround them with the gold and sew them to the top and bottom of the top. [![Fractured-center](https://quiltweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Fractured-center.jpg)](https://quiltweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Fractured-center.jpg) ## Adding the Borders I put it on the bed to measure for the borders but it turns out that the bed was too soft. [Wavy borders aren’t good](https://quiltweb.com/how-to-sew-a-quilt-top-that-lies-flat/). I put it on the floor for accuracy. Here is a picture of the finished top. [![Fractured-top](https://quiltweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Fractured-top.jpg)](https://quiltweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Fractured-top.jpg) Have you ever fractured a quilt panel or fabric? Send a picture to . I will be glad to share it. ![Fractured-Liberty Quilt](https://quiltweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Fractured-Liberty.jpg)Fractured Liberty![Liberty Quilt](https://quilters.club/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/liberty-quilt.webp)Made by Laurie