Andrea

Wish I had an answer -- for you and for me. I buy a lot of fabric online (3 or 4 yards of something I consider a central fabric) and also small amounts of various shades/textures of other fabrics for my stash. However, I get stuck when I need some go-with fabrics for quilt variety. I just have to go to Joanne's or my LQS with the central fabric in my hands so I can get just the color and intensity I need. It's a bother, but I haven't figured out another way to do it.

w1613s

Consider contacting Mary Jo's in Gastonia, NC. A huge fabric, etc. store. HUGE. Wonderfully professional, marvelously helpful ladies who actually SEW can be found there. There is a Mary Jo; she has been in business for a coon's age. And when you go into her HUGE store, Mary Jo is on the floor along with the rest of her folks. I have had her cut fabric for me and remind me to square it after I washed it and before I cut it. I have called and asked for help of assorted types including matching of fabrics, kinds of fabrics, etc. They are also well versed in the internet world.

I went through all of that so I could tell you for real and for true that if you need help of any kind you can write or call or email and get the best help, advice, ever. Even samples. And if you need special notions, etc. to go with your fabric or project, they've got them and can help with collaborating on what exactly you need.

And service-my goodness yes! Prompt. Correct. Unbelievably helpful. I've been there and done that for years and I can vouch for it.

Now my caveat. Mary Jo's and I have no financial or business connection except I obviously am a satisfied customer.

Pat

Carol Ann

Jean, I love buying from Connecting Threads. If you spend $50.00 or more, there shipping is FREE!! You can't beat that??!! The colors are great and the material, top quality.

Rose_P

These cards can be helpful for the general idea, but be aware that the dye lots change, sometimes quite radically. I found a forest green Kona in one local store, but not enough for my project. I went to another store in the same chain and found the same fabric, but luckily I brought a swatch because it was different enough that it wouldn't work in the same quilt with the other. I went 20 miles out of my way to a third store, and found a third shade of the same one. Nobody had enough on a bolt so I had to order online to get the quantity I needed all matching. This is not intended as a slam of Kona. Anything that is dyed in lots may have variations.

Online, as you have indicated, it is the differences in monitors that make the fabrics look different as well as the difference in lighting where the pictures were taken. If you have ever checked out the paint displays at Home Depot or Lowes (probably many others), they have a box that has three different lighting types showing the same paint, which looks dramatically different under each light. There are too many variables to know for sure about fabric, and in fact what matches in a brick and mortar store under their fluorescent lights might not match in your light at home.

If you look up into the corner of a painted room you will see that the color on the left will not be the same as the color on the right, even though you know they match exactly. It's because each wall catches more or less light depending on where the windows are or what lamps are on. This is what you're up against not only with a picture but in person. Just as you have never lost sleep over the walls looking unmatched in the corners, you probably will not have too much trouble finding acceptable matches for your fabric, wherever you buy it.

nanibi

In addition to what others have said about eQuilter, a neat feature of the site is the color descriptions. When you look at a specific fabric, all the colors in it are listed with the photo, AND those color names are consistent throughout the website. So hunter green in fabric A matches hunter green in fabric B even if from another brand (this may not hold for Kona etc solids, which may come already named). Also, you can request swatches if matching something you already have is critical.

mjhaess

It is hard to tell the exact color of fabric you buy online. I have always been satisfied buying from Connecting threads and they always take it back if you return it should you not be satisfied.

carol45

Here's an experience I had recently with fabric.com. I was making a quilt for my grandson whose favorite color is lime green and I wanted it in two different shades--one light one dark. I selected what I thought would work and ordered it. When it came, one of the colors was completely wrong. I called fabric.com and told them about it. The person on the phone understood completely what I was talking about and helped me look on the web for something that would work. Then she went to the warehouse and took out the fabrics we were talking about to make sure they would work together. I sent the wrong fabric back (they paid the postage) and she sent me the replacement fabric. It was perfect. That's what I call great service. I've had other experiences with them in the past, always satisfying.

kwajgirl

Some sites, e-quilter, fabric.com and others I can't think of right now allow you to add fabrics of your choice to a design wall. Then, you can see how they look together. I have ordered fabric on-line for several years now and only once or twice have I been disappointed. I believe that if you are ordering from someone like Keepsake Quilting you would have success talking to someone on their phone lines. I've never tried, but they are very consumer oriented.

If you see a fabric you like in a magazine, you can go to quiltshops.com and do a search for that collection. That can often help if you know one fabric but perhaps can't find other pieces of the collection.

Have fun shopping in your pj's.

cricket_iscute

Interesting that you should ask. A friend and I are working with a certain focus fabric and wanted fabrics to go well with it. I am also working with another focus fabric on different projects but they have the same general colors for the most part. I recently put in a big order for both of us, got it, and it is exactly what I needed. There were 45 different fabrics in that order. They are all perfect. Here's how I did it:

I took pictures of the focus fabrics (you can get these from websites or your camera) and put big copies of them in Word. I checked them against the fabric itself and was sure the colors were exactly as shown and read correctly on the monitor I was using. I was able to check one focus fabric on the site, as it was for sale then, and it was accurate. I then used their design board against my Word file like with a split screen.

The site is equilter.com. Paul Rubin, one of the owners, built his own design wall feature. It is VERY accurate. I have done a number of orders with them using that design board and have never been disappointed. You can easily use 85 or more swatches, and move them around. Their scanning process is accurate and true to color. What you see is what you get. They also give excellent descriptions of every color in the fabric. So when you see a swatch on the design board and on the site, you can be sure it is accurate. Just be sure your monitor is: I have two monitors and only one is really accurate.

Their prices are no higher than anywhere else and their service is great. They are my first stop when I'm shopping for fabric online. I've never been disappointed in all the years I've shopped there.

By the way, I am almost always disappointed at fabric.com. For instance, one fabric I ordered was supposed to be purple and it is really grey. I have studied colors for many years and taken many classes in color theory; I am very fussy about colors and pay close attention. I haven't been happy at all with fabric.com for the past several years. If I buy fabric there, it is on speculation only. In other words, it may have to go into the stash if it isn't as I thought. When I buy at e-quilter, I use every fabric and get great results.

My quilts are known for their dramatic color combinations. I get a lot of compliments.

QKO

Some really good advice from a lot of people. I'll add mine, from the sellers perspective.

Some online shop owners really strive to make their pictures as accurate as possible when they're put online. In our case, we go to the manufacturers and get high-resolution pictures of the fabrics when we order them, then photoshop them ourselves to make sure they retain the correct color rendition when they are optimized for loading times.

If I can't get high-res pictures from the manufacturer, I do hi-res scans of the fabrics themselves.

Unlike equilter, however, I don't over-saturate the pictures and apply too much contrast correction. Their pictures are jazzy, but not accurate, and I'm looking for accurate.

I use an expensive color-calibrated monitor to make sure I am seeing exactly what is being put on the website, and compare those pictures to the actual fabrics.

Having said all that, here's what you can do to make sure you're getting the benefit of whatever work the store developer is putting into the process.

First, get yourself a decent monitor and get it calibrated for your viewing area. That will go a long way toward giving you the most accurate experience.

Second, I would recommend putting fabrics together that are from the same line, or from the same manufacturer. Many manufacturers have a standard color palette, and their blender lines cover this palette from which they create all their seasonal lines.

Third, when in doubt, call the store! Most store owners, especially online store owners are more than happy to assist you in putting together colors that will work with each other.

Good luck, and happy shopping!