PaperPrincess

While it's not always the case, I'm guessing that the 'young girls' in the fabric shop were found in a chain store, and probably not the best to offer advice. I would seek out your local quilt shop (LQS) and get some direction there. I'm not good with colors either, and I usually start with a pattern. Go to your library and look at some quilting books. Once I have a pattern, I pick out a fabric with colors that I like. Those nice fabric designers have done all the color coordination work for you. On the selvedge there are color dots used in the printing process giving you an array of colors. I then pick the fabrics for the quilt using the colors in the focus fabric. Sometimes I incorporate the focus fabric in the quilt, often in the border or sashing. Sometimes I don't even buy it!

cjsews

Your first quilt was very nice. Great choice of fabrics for the pattern you made. As paperprincess said, find a frint you like and use the color dots in the selvage to pick other fabrics. One thing to think about as you pic fabrics is scale. Do not pick all busy prints as you will lose the pattern of your quilt blocks. Get some large, medium and small prints. Stand back from the bolts laid on top of each other to see how they play together. What may not look good as a whole may fit in fine as a smaller piece. Remember that you are not using a large piece in your quilt. It will be cut into smaller pieces. Just keep your pattern simple to start till you find your comfort zone. Remember to breath and have fun with it.

ManiacQuilter2

Usually for me I have a reason or request for a charity quilt and then I start looking thru lots of free patterns (on Google or fabric manufacturers website) to see what would be fun to make and then start pulling the fabric from my stash. Sometimes I have been given donated fabric and then I search for a pattern that will be fun to make. I also love to look thru quilt magazines which are sold by individual patterns on eBay. I do admit to spending too much time on the computer but since I can't drive anymore, at least the world of quilting can come into my apt. Just make sure to remember this is a hobby and it should be FUN!!

NJ Quilter

If you want to do a bed quilt - go for it! Frankly, I wouldn't worry too much about stash at this point. Your tastes will change, probably quickly and you could end up having a bunch of 'what was I thinking' fabrics. Save your $$ for the moment.

Think about using large blocks at this point - 12" (finished) blocks. As long as they aren't too intricate, you'll get in the groove of making the blocks and it won't take a bunch of them to get to a bed sized quilt in relatively short order.

You can also check out http://www.quilterscache.com for some inspiration. They have blocks listed by name and by size and rate them all by degree of difficulty. Choose a large block that does not have excessive or overly difficult piecing.

When choosing your fabrics, once I have the block/pattern picked out, I then find my main fabric. Depending on how many other fabrics you need for your block/quilt, like others, I then wander the store picking out those. I tend to gather up what I 'think' is going to work and find a spot in the store to sit on the floor and line up the bolts of fabric in ratio to how those fabrics are going to go together in the block/quilt. In other words, if I have a 3 color block, I'll get my main fabric and the 2 that I think I want to go with it. If the other 2 fabrics are in equal proportions in the block, I'll set those down under the bolt of main fabric with proportionately enough of the other 2 bolts/fabrics showing to see if they really work the way I think they will. Lay them on the floor or prop against a wall and stand back - get some perspective. I might decide I really, really like one of the lesser fabrics and choose a different focus fabric some times.

At any rate, that's how I go about selecting fabrics.

Prism99

Here's a link to the photo of Littletree's first quilt, for those who may not know how to find it:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...ml#post7037066

Dina

You might want to consider a rail fence. That would just be 3 fabrics, and I found that much easier to deal with when I first started....fewer decisions. It is an easy quilt to make and it always looks pretty good.

Here is a lot of information on the rail fence pattern. http://www.generations-quilt-pattern...t-pattern.html

I will see if I can find a few pictures of ones I have made, in case that helps any. The first one is cat-sized, but the other two are larger quilts.

Dina

Kooklabell

I usually begin by thinking of who I want to make the quilt for. That gets me started because each pattern and color combination is unique to each person. I'm not at all good at making a quilt to just make one. The most difficult is making one for myself. At the moment I'm having fun practicing blocks and using them to make doll quilts. So small and quick and I get to use scraps!

SuzannJ

Wow you did a great job!!! I have mAde three quilt tops maybe four and that's where I stopped. I am intimidated when it comes to quilting them.. keep up the great work.

bezzie1958

Littletree, I have a hugh stash, I have found its overwhelming when trying to choose the fabric for a new project. I have been quilting for 15 years or more. Keep your stash small untill you are really into quilting its hard to manage a stash like mine. I have latley been selling some to a fellow quilter who has no time to go to a fabric store which is good for me and her.

bezzie1958

Dina that yellow quilt is awesome