zz-pd

If you are making a quilt for her, have her pick out the colors and let the quilt itself be a suprise. so when she gets it she's gone to love what ever quilt you make her.

JCL in FL

I'd do what others have suggested and let her pick out one fabric she loves. I made the mistake of telling someone to go to a quilt pattern site and see what they liked. I meant, do they like modern or traditional, dark or light, one with many different fabrics or one with just a few etc. And he picked out pattern and colors. It wasn't a difficult one but there are so many patterns I've wanted to try and I got stuck doing one I'm not fond of and in colors I'd never put together.. I won't do that again.

athenagwis

I would also pick the pattern yourself, but let her choose the colors and fabrics. Just tell her you want to try a special pattern you've been thinking of, but you want it to be a surprise for her. I would have the pattern picked out before you go with her to the store. Write down the amount of fabric you need, then at the store, tell her to start with one fabric she really likes, and you and she can go about picking out the rest of the fabrics together. You'll know how much of each fabric you'll need since you already picked out the pattern, she'll be surprised with the design of the quilt, but it will be in her favorite colors.

I would be careful of just letting her pick one fabric and building from there without telling her that you are specifically making a quilt for her. She may pick a fabric that she thinks you might like, or she might be saying she likes a fabric because she doesn't want to be rude, but if you tell her it's for her then she'll be honest about the fabrics she likes.

Good Luck!
Rachel

Pat G

As a newcomer here, I finally had to jump in with my 2 cents worth. I feel you're putting way too much pressure on yourself. You're going to take the joy out of it for youself. Just pay attention to the color scheme in her bedroom. Then you pick both pattern & fabrics then watch her rave over the finished quilt. Just enjoy the process. Pat

quilterguy27

I say go with the "Total Surprise" route. That way you have total control and then give it to her and see how excited she is with it. If you give, in my opinion, her an inch, she might take a mile if she's pushy. Then that takes all the fun out of it for you. Good luck! I hope it turns out well for you and her.

carol45

What I tell family members who want me to make something for them is that we both have to love it: I will have to love it while I'm making it and they will have to love it when it's done. I don't go for the idea of a total surprise for that reason, but it does depend on how picky they are. Some people will love it no matter what because you made it for them, and some will be much more demanding--I'd like to have a good feeling about how they'll react while I'm working on it.

grammypatty7

One time I told my daughter I wanted to make her young son a quilt and foolishly took her with me to pick out the fabric. She picked one out and my creativity promptly went out the window. That was the hardest quilt ever because I had trouble figuring out what on earth to do with the fabric she picked out. Never again. Now when I make a quilt for one of her children, I make it and surprise them and it's worked out well but they are young children.

I would suggest you find a few patterns you'd be comfortable working with and show them to her. Tell her you'd love to make a quilt for them and felt you could make one of the selected patterns and see if she likes any of them. Then go shopping for fabric. That way she'd be involved and get excited about the quilt. Sounds like she would be easy to work with.

Recently I decided I want to make a quilted sweatshirt for a good friend and would love to suprise her with one but knew I needed to know her size and had to give her a color choice. She has seen a photo of the pattern I plan to use (10 + years internet friend and yes, we've met) and loves it and is excited about. We discussed colors and I told her what I saw when my chapter made them and the stunning results. Her coloring is dramatically different from mine so I knew my color choices wouldn't be good on her however my instincts were right on target. I suspected she'd opt for black and white and she did and I told her that my instincts said black and white. Since she's in IN and I'm in FL, I selected the fabric but she's easy to please. I did tell her though that if she isn't happy with it in anyway, she can use it to do her yard work in. LOL. My goal is to make it beautiful enough that she'll be proud to wear to work and evenings out. Fitting is another issue that I know if it's off anywhere, she can quickly take it in to fit as she does alterations for stage play costumes.

Good luck with your quilt. I'm sure they will love and treasure it. Have fun doing it as I know it will be filled with a lot of love.
Patty

Boston1954

I love it!!! That is one fantastic suggestion.

JUNEC

I like the idea of showing her a couple of patterns to choose from and letting her choose one fabric of her choice to be used in the quilt - Also maybe what size she wants

Good luck

Phyl

A friend of mine, a VERY good friend, had made me two beautiful quilts, all handmade before I ever took up trying to quilt. When she saw how worn one of them was getting due to great love and constant use, she decided she wanted to make another one for me. I didn't want her to pay for the new fabric etc and so I asked if I could go with her and pick out the fabrics. She assured me that was fine and off we went. Well, not ever having quilted, I picked out fabrics that were heavy, shiny, difficult to hand quilt and she smiled all the way saying, "SURE>GREAT> ANYTHING YOU WANT>" Sigh. Little did I know what torture I was giving her. My poor dear friend struggled for six months, working, HAND WORKING, on my terribly difficult choice of fabrics because she was too polite to tell me "NO!". The quilt is beautiful to say the least but she hated working on it. I felt terrible. (STILL DO.)
Now that I have started to quilt, my philosophy is strong. I CANNOT do somethng I don't want to do. I will not make a quilt because someone thinks they deserve one! I surprise people with quilts and they love them! That way, I love what I am doing. They love what they are getting and we are all happy. EVERYONE I HAVE CONSULTED about a quilt for them has made life difficult because they do not quilt. They have no idea of the work, the hours, the love, the cost, the layouts, etc. If you want to make a quilt for your MIL, please be open with her. Kindly ask her to sit with you, she'll probably love the attention and the gentle honesty, and go over some patterns you can do....let her choose if she wants. Show her the type of fabric you need to work on...and have her pick some colors. I have the BEST relationship with my wonderful DIL because we hug each other, cherish each other and are honest with each other in the kindest way. After all, a MIL gave you your spouse and a DIL gave you your grandchildren. Life is too short to stand on ceremonies, too short to be negative or to be trampled on either and too short not to love each other. Enjoy sitting and talking with each other and making the most wonderful quilt for her because you respect each other and tell each other what is best for both of you.
I can't believe my friend still speaks with me after the quilt choices I made for her! I did make her a quilt now, a silk quilt with silks I brought back with me from an Asian trip we went on together! She loved it, had the pleasure of know it was coming but not what it would look like. She kept petting my arm when she received it! Quilters rarely get quilts from others! Please enjoy but set gentle boundaries. It's good for both of you. Please let us all see what you do make. I'm sure it will be lovely for BOTH of you.