Actually, the fussier the fabric pattern the better.
The whole point of this particular quilt when creating the bloom is to try to hide the patch/blocks seams.
It's a relatively easy quilt to construct, and I think a great learning experience.
I like to have all the fabrics picked before I start cutting.
That doesn't mean I don't/won't swap out fabric(s), even after I've started.
If you want any control over the color theme, it's best to pick a fabric in the middle - say Fabric #4, #5,or #6.
See the next post for examples of the types of design that might work - multiple colors, flowing, irregular, not a lot of background.
This way you can work up and work down to find fabrics that fit - you're limiting your choices but you're also controlling and focusing the overall color and style of the quilt.
Or you can start in one direction, and the not find the fabric, and then end up going in another direction.
Or to get from 2 to a 4 that you like, you might swap the 3 you had already chosen.
Scale is also really important.
Using really huge florals - like some Kaffe fabrics - is kinda iffy because you have to keep in mind that FINISHED size of a patch in the 9 patch block is less than 2",and the plain block is less than 4".
When you cut up one of those types of fabrics, no fussy cutting, you have no control over what you're going to get.
You might end up with solid patches, even maybe solid plain squares, which would not work at all.
Some of his medium scale prints work well.
If you're interested in a mystery, and the quilt isn't intended for any particular decor or purpose, then you can start at the beginning, and add on from there (see the last picture).
As you'll see in the following pictures, there are all kinds of styles.
I personally like really light centers and really dark outer fabrics (because they make the centers look even lighter).
The problem is that I only have 8 fabrics to work with to get one from extreme to the other.
And sometimes I adjust the size - only using 5 or 6 fabrics - and that makes it even more difficult.
But that's the challenge of the quilt, and why I really liked making them.
Sometimes, because of where I started and where I wanted to go, it wasn't doable.
And I didn't care, it was delicious mindless sewing, which, at the time, was what I wanted to do.
Making these from stash isn't always possible, even if you have huge one.
You might have the right fabrics but not the right amount.
If you've got a cute little LQS, with not a lot of inventory, you're probably not going to be able to do it in one shop.
It helps to be in a huge shop with many possibilites.
Sometimes, even after hours of searching, that perfect next fabric is still MIA, and you end up settling for 2nd or 3rd choice.
I wasn't making them for any purpose, although most of the quilts are used daily.
If I'm in a shop and I have the 8 bolts fanned out, I like to look at fabrics 1-2-3 - without the rest.
Am I happy with the flow? Does the scale and design and colors look like they'd mesh with the next fabric?
Yes? Great.
Then I look at fabrics 2-3-4, and do the same thing.
Then fabrics 3-4-5 and on.
Sometimes you can spot problems when narrowing the focus rather than looking at all 8 at the same time.
The best Blooming I ever saw was at the Lowell show about 10-11 years ago.
The maker had only used Australian fabrics (and that was when they were brand new to the US market, and priced as "specialty" fabrics).
Seamless.
And she had some interesting tricks to help with that inner glow - she actually made 9patches with a Fabric 0, instead of having plain Fabric 1 squares.
That gave her another step to help with the flow.
Genius.
Here are pictures of some of my Blooming quilts - I'll see if I can find pictures of others (lost a lot of them when the hard drive crashed).
I've tried to point out things that did and didn't so you can keep that in mind when choosing your own fabrics.
Or you can totally ignore it. ;-)
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This was my first Blooming that I made back in 2000-ish.
It was a lot of trial and error - I actually swapped out 4 fabrics from the original 8 I had chosen (in a smaller LQS).
I had even made the 9patches with those other fabrics.
They look fine all pressed but once they went up on the wall, it was horrible.
For this one, I started with the 4th fabric, and worked from there.
I need to get a better picture of this one.
It's actually sitting right here - I'm redoing all my earlier bindings because they were....horrendous.
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This Blooming only had 5 fabrics - I was shooting for a Spring Garden look (for a lap quilt for my Grandmother).
While Fabrics 3-5 blend almost seamlessly, 2 and 3 weren't as smooth.
But I decided they looked like flowers and just it go.
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Another attempt at a garden type quilt.
I'll admit to some fussy cutting/placement in the center to smooth over some rough patches.
Some of the Fabric #1 squares had too much of that mint green - yech - so I had to swap out those squares
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I was possessed. I couldn't stop making them.
I was in a shop in Boston and just started grabbing fabric to see what would happen.
I always ran into the same issues - my fault - that I preferred the very light centers and very dark outers, and wasn't willing to compromise on the other fabrics.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]393603[/ATTACH]
At some show there was an art quilt with a sun and space theme.
I limited myself to batiks on this one and went for the same vibe.
I also swapped the centers on this one as well - after the whole quilt was done.
Pretty interesting surgery.
I still have the piece I excised - I took it out whole.
I swapped out a bright yellow for this more orange-y one.
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