Elisabrat

You have to start somewhere. Look at your pretty stash. Pick one piece of fabric that says ME ME ME. Then pick three or ten others that go with that one. Now you have your items and no you probably are not going to use all of each one unless your making a ballroom rug. I go to the picture section here and always bookmark the designs I love the most and that is where I get my next best project. Oh once you pull those main fabrics out get away from the stash. It will talk to you and some will say why not pick me? DONT LISTEN TO THEM. My fabric is sneaky like that always trying to distract me and get me to give that piece attention. Show us a project in motion. Just jump at it. Do a tube quilt, a 4 patch posie something!

iamsogone

my girl friend laughs at me me and her mom buy fabric and then the pattern comes to us she says it s because we ar e left handed i just never worried about it

peabee

bstanbro, thanks for bringing this up! for a couple of years, i have been buying what i liked at the moment. then, figured out that the designs i loved didnt last too long before discontinuing. i rarely brought more than 2 coordinating pieces, figured part of the process was "finding" the rest. now, i look at layer cakes and rolls and kits ask myself why didnt i just buy the "set" of yardage to make it easier to match fabrics to patterns. oh, well, live and learn...elisabrat and patrice j, your explanations are really helpful.

bstanbro

I love this. Now that you mention it . . .

Good suggestions from everyone. For the most part, I bought single pieces in 2-, 3-, and 4-yard increments, depending on how much I liked it. I have pulled out a few to use as quilt backs and borders. The hard part is when I have two or more than look so pretty together. I want to put them into the same quilt, but I don't necessarily have the right amount of one or the other of them.

patricej

when that happens, pick a simple design that uses those two colors. if there are other fabs in your stash that work well with both of them together, you can "graduate" to a design that works with what you pull.

adjust the size of the finished project according to the amount of fabric you have.

charismah

I think this is a common dillemma for many people...so glad you brought it up. I have a friend that is a fabulous quilter..but kind of color challenged and can't look at fabric and see what it will look like in a pattern...but if you hand her the most complicated pattern she can figure it out!
What I try to do when I want to start something...I will sort through my stash and start making my own kits as I go..oh these will all look good together and then I go looking for a pattern that will let me utilize them.....or I will just be cruising through my books and see something I like and try to shop in my stash..I feel if I only have to buy one or two yards of fabric to make it go together I am doing well!

oksewglad

Interesting discussion. I too have bought chunks of fabrics like you Barb, and have used some of them as suggested here-still have several chunks to work with. I'm amazed when I find 2 chunks that go together and they were made years apart from each other!

bstanbro

Thanks--you are all giving me such good advice.

MadQuilter

I have been using the "It's OK if you sit on my quilt" book a lot lately. It has a great section on different blocks. Some are shown as two-color, some multiple colors, and I sometimes start with a block I want to do. Then I pick the main fabric based on the way it would look in the block. What position, how large, and how many times will this fabric be shown in that particular block. Then I pull the partners. Depending on contrast value, I might go with a more solid-reading fabric, or I may go with a softer look. And with that auditioning process, I generally end up with something I like.

You know what really helped me? Participating in some of the swaps - like the Quilting Bee block of by month. In that swap, every participant declares their interest, and when you are partnered up, you make a block toward your partner's interest. It is a good way to grow creatively on a small scale.

Teacup

I love "It's OK if You Sit on My Quilt." I learned a lot from studying that book. I have the original edition.

A place I love to look at patterns is online at Quilters Cache website. I look at a block and then skip to the final page to see the overall pattern it makes. I especially love blocks that make a secondary pattern when combined. Many of her patterns are demonstrated using only 2 or 3 colors. And sometimes it is easy to imagine how it would look in colors/fabrics I would select. If I was looking for inspriation, that's one of the first places I would head.