Choosing fabrics that go together can be filled with frustration for many quilters, so you're not alone. Years ago, I was helping my customer pick out 12 darks and 12 lights for a log cabin. When I had them lined up on edge (don't look at the side, just look at the rolled edges to see a smaller area) I realized what I'd done. Here is my Pattern Mixing Formula (forget the color)
1. Little background and heavy design
2. Equal amounts of background color and design
3. Lots of background and little design
Add color to the formula and repeat it as many times as you need to get a pleasing mix of fabric design. This formula was published in my first quilt book, Quilt-As-You-Go.
Sandy