Originally Posted by
Jan in VA
I spent the first 5 years of my now 30+ years quilting career regularly buying 1/2 to 1 yd. blender fabrics to build my stash.
Blenders are those fabrics that almost read as solids from a distance; they compliment and can be used with many different larger print focus fabrics; they are best without a lot of contrast in their small prints; they cover the value spectrum from very light to very dark within each color.
Eventually I had collected 12"-14" high folded stacks of blues, reds, green, yellows, pinks, purples, aquas, blacks, and neutrals......most one yard or less in length. From these I can now make king-sized quilts directly from my own stash. I still buy fabric this way, picking blenders that appeal to me without haaving a particular quilt or pattern in mind. Now when I find a larger "theme" print that I can't live without I usually have most the complimentary fabrics I need to go with it. I recently made a curved log cabin quilt in yellow, aqua, and red using 30 different fabrics from my stash in those colors. It is my favorite quilt and I've taught workshops on this pattern.
Wish I had a photo.
Jan in VA
I do the same as Jan. Another thing I look for is fabric that has a lot of different colors in it in somewhat of a small print. I find these fabrics so versatile as they go with so many other fabrics. It took time to build my stash but getting it a little bit of a time and the financial impact wasn't so great. I don't buy less than a 1/2 yard of anything but I also don't buy a lot either - no more than 1 yard unless I think I'm going to use it for a back or I'm really in love with it.
As far as color I spend a lot of time auditioning fabrics together. If I'm home then I put them together and put them someplace I'll be walking by throughout the day so I can see them in different light and moods. The color wheel works well to if you're starting more from scratch. The link that was shared earlier on this board was great as well. If you sign up get a daily e-mail with a color pallet suggestion. Here's the link:
http://design-seeds.com