I think I've only used solids once--a navy--which next to white in the quilt made it pop. It was my second quilt, so I really didn't know what I was doing, it was pure luck. Instead of solids I use tone on tones. I really don't much care for quilts that are very busy. I've noticed quite a few of them in the quilting magazines during the last year and sometimes I cannot even tell what the patten is. It seems like they are popular so it's me in the minority I guess.