LavenderBlue

Have you ever been inspired to use a color combo in a quilt after seeing your scraps or other fabric randomly lying around or stacked next to each other? This happened to me a few years ago.....an unlikely combination of turkey reds, cream, shades of olive....beautiful together! It began with a floral, a stripe and a star fabric. I continued to "gather" other fabrics from my stash that fit in, but so far have only enough for probably a 50 - 60" square finished. With a little fun shopping, I should be able to nicely add to the mix. Would like to hear any similar stories. ;-)

yngldy

I had made the inner part of a quilt, but when it came to put on the border, I did not like what I had purchased. As I would shop for other quilts, I would see, and buy, what I thought would work for that quilt. I ended up with about 6-8 different fabrics, but still was not sold on any of them, even though they looked good together when I bought them. One day I had the top out and was searching for something. I mindlessly threw a piece of fabric on top of it as I was searching, and LOVED what I saw. I would never have bought that fabric for that top, but it looked so good together that I finished it. Only took a few years to get finished!

LavenderBlue

yngldy, thanks for sharing. Sometimes the fabrics seem to talk to us, giving us a nice surprise!

ManiacQuilter2

I usually audition fabric up on a design wall to choose what speaks to me.

joe'smom

Yes! Some of my best fabric pairings have been happy accidents, from opening a drawer and catching sight of something, or tossing a piece of fabric down on another absentmindedly and then noticing how great they look together.

Kris P

I buy lots of scrap cuts from my LQS. The price is right..40% off and I get lots of different pieces for my scrappy quilts. Most of these piece are WOF cuts ranging from 4 to 17 inches. (too short for them to cut into Fat Quarters for sale.) I love playing with the colors and finding combinations that go well together. I call it color therapy. I may never make the project, but it's fun to mix and match and hone the skill.

Karen G

Not related but kinda, When I got ready to take care of my scraps ( Bonnie Hunter style) I noticed that my two most recent lap quilts had colors that matched. They both have light blue, navy blue, and orange. One also has yellow.

Charleen DiSante

Thanks for asking the question LavenderBlues, several responses echoed what I have experienced. Glad I'm not alone. LOL Once in a while I have fabrics waiting to be put away and they 'grab' another fabric as I walk past to find the 'blue' box or the red drawer.

bearisgray

Sometimes that happens to/for me, too. A happy occurrence.

wildyard

Your post makes me smile! I have a large drawer just for fabrics from my stash that grab one another. Sometimes there are only two in a grouping, but others may have 5 or more.
I shelve my fabrics by color or style; IE: border prints, stripes, large print florals, solids, etc. When putting fabric away, I like to run it by all the shelves if I have time and see if any of the prints jump out and grab the one in my hand. If so, I will put them together in the special drawer.
This way, when I need to make a quilt, I always have a place to start in pulling fabrics. And I love finding fabrics that "go with"!!