Can someone give me advice on how to select fabric for a trip around the world quilt? I have a great deal of trouble with fabric selection, and I do best with information like....two dark, two light, and one medium. Or two contrast and three that sort of match.

I am planning on using five fabrics, unless someone tells me I would be happier with the pattern that calls for nine fabrics.

What about using five shades of the same color? Would that look good?

I am still looking at quilts made using this pattern, but would gladly look at more.
Thanks for any advice.

I did a Trip Around the World with 9 shades of purple and I love it! I have also made one with all bright fabrics. I even made one for a lady who purchased the fabrics. My thought through the whole process was YUCK! To my surprise it actually looked good when finished. It had black, yellow, pink, and even a flannel that was kind of goofy looking(fabrics that in my opinion clashed with each other).

I always use 9 fabrics. But they might use only 3 colors.

Having said that, there are no quilt police and you can do what you like.

If you can find one of Eleanor Burns videos, she tells how to pick the fabrics, and one or two that will be "transitional" if you want to get out of a color group and into another color. This looks like a really good tute on how to strip piece it: http://www.quiltville.com/tatw.shtml I hope this helps...

My Trip Around the World called for 13 different colors.

Here is mine. I used 7 different fabrics. I tried to have them relate to the fabric they were next to.
What I love about this pattern is the ability to add as many colors as you want. You really can't go wrong, with block size or colors.
I have another in the works, it is blues.

I am working on a triple around the world, using nine different fabrics. I just bought a springy looking print and chose colors to go with that. Not sure how it will turn out but, since I love all the colors I chose I'm sure I will love it.

I use eight fabrics. Here is a pic of one of mine.

Oh, That is georgous! and exactly why I love the pattern. Hard to screw, up but when it is done well... its just beautiful.

My Trip Around the World called for 13 different colors.[/quote]

Wow! That is most beautiful! I love the colors and the shades of each color morphing into the next. Thank you for sharing. :thumbup:

It took me a while to find the pictures after rearranging my images yesterday. Forgot where I stored them.

Yes, I see it now. Went back and edited my comment to say how lovely it is! It sings.

I made a scrappy Around the World using different colors of the rainbow.

contrast in color and value and print to show the "trips" around the center. Usually small prints so the value or pattern will be reasonably the same in the band. Large prints usually don't work for me as there is too much difference in in the band depending on where the square is cut.

Love them all - beautiful job!!

Beautiful quilts! Maybe I want more than five fabrics then. The pattern I downloaded says 5 or 9. I can't wait to get started. (I have to finish sandwiching one, and after I put the binding on....then I can start.

Wow! That is most beautiful! I love the colors and the shades of each color morphing into the next. Thank you for sharing. :thumbup:[/quote]

Thank you. I wasn't crazy about the colors until I put it all together. It's different.

My avatar is a pattern called a Kwik Trip which is a variation of a trip around the world. I found the boarder fabric first and liked it so that's where the process began. Hope this helps.

For a gift, I did a wall-hanging trip. The giftee told me some favorite colors and I went from there. I used approximately 6 different colors and about 5 different fabrics for each of the 6 colors. I then made many different combos of the 6 colors using lots of different fabrics together. I made these 5 inches each. I then cut them apart at the 2.5 inch mark and started mixing and matching til I got the combo I liked and the giftee, plus his wife, truly loved the final layout. His wife actually told him it was too nice for him and appropriated the gift so I made him another wall-hanging.