Originally Posted by
Neesie
I've decided I really am my own worst enemy. Been gathering fabrics, for a couple of D9Ps. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, one is to be different blues . . . so I gathered together about a dozen blues but then discovered there were actually two different blue sets, neither really "feeling right" with the other. Back to the store, for more blues. Okay, that gave me 8 out of 9, which "felt right" together. Back to the store, for the last one. It looked great with "most" of the set but then one of the original 8 didn't seem right. Back to a different store. Found a couple new blues and decided one worked but not with the "old" new one. Today, I went back to the store again(!) and found one more hopeful blue. I'm almost afraid to set it next to the others. It's in the washer, right now. Luckily, I only need about a yard of each blue. I've exhausted Hobby Lobby, Joann's, and WalMart (WM was a major disappointment, this time). This is just a casual quilt, so I don't want to pay LQS prices. One way or another, I WILL make this work!
Oh, during this last trip, I found several coordinating purples! They may go with the purple paisley, I recently bought . . . or I may be forced to go back for the violet paisley (slightly different shade). I'll also need a few more purples . . . but am afraid to think about that, just now!
On the bright side, nothing will go to waste.
OK, can I say this, in the kindest possible way, that you are being way to anal? The purpose of scrappy is to throw all sorts of colors together and have them sing together. They harmonize well, you'll be surprised. You must go to Quiltville.com and read what Bonnie says and does with color. I loved scrappy and then I found Bonnie. She freed me to think differently and it is wonderful. You can do controlled scrappy, I've made several blues/wh/cr/neutrals quilts. They are gorgeous, I get jaw dropping comments that I really don't think I deserve, but evidently they do. I use pale blues to navy with a little blue tourquoise thrown in. If it's blue, in it goes. I say throw all your blues in a pile, stand back 8 feet and see what you see. Remember you will only see a small portion of each fabric once sewn. Bonnie says if you can't see it from the back of a galloping horse it's fine. And the impression you get from it further away is what it really will look like. Remember the old camera trick? You squint thru a small box that your fingers make in front of your eyes. Try that, I bet all your fabrics will be great together. Actually, co-ordinating is not something I try for. That says boring to me - anyone can do it. Just saw Dunsters comment, I agree - if they don't look good together, throw more in.
I want to see when you are finished - it will be gorgeous.