This really works. Last month was trying to decide on fabrics for my first controlled scrappy. I drove myself crazy with the sheer amount of fabrics thought might work. JenniePenny made a suggestion (see her message below) and it worked. Within a half hour I had eliminated more than half the fabrics. Also had quite an aerobic workout up and down the flight of stairs trying to get perspective. What I found most interesting was that he fabrics I was absolutely certain would work, became apparent that they wouldn't. Had so much fun with this scrappy, that before I squirreled away the leftovers, I made a second scrappy.
Originally Posted by
JenniePenny
Hi BorntoQuilt,
For a good planned scrappy, you can pick out a quilt block that has a fair amount of pieces in it. You decide that one component of the block - like star points- will be from one color family. You also decide that another component - like the background in each block - will be from another color family.
In Pulsar, my star points were dark blues and purples. My background was cream (6 or 7 different cream fabrics).
I knew how many blocks I needed and how big each piece needed to be, so I could generally figure out if I had enough blue and enough cream before I got started.
My method for picking out all the rest of the fabrics was this: put them on the floor in a random way. Put some of your darks and lights (previously chosen) with them. Stand on a step-stool, sturdy chair, or go up two or three stairs. My sewing room is at the bottom of a well-lit stairway. The base of the staircase has been the stage for auditioning many fabrics for many quilts. You may not know what you like to start with, but you will see right away the fabrics that don't work or play nicely together. This distance of more than your height helps to see the fabrics in a different way. You want some blending and a little contrast. If you like how a certain color looks, add more of that color in different shades.
I hope that helps. pm me at any time!