quilter1

This is a fabulous resource. Great color ideas.

bearisgray

At one time I thought the colors had to match EXACTLY! - and then I bought a book by Jinny Beyer about selecting colors - where she would take the main colors of a design - match them - and then use other colors to 'bridge' between colors - and then remove the 'exact' matches - the results were a lot more vibrant when she did that.

QuiltE

Plus there are phenomenal resources at the tips of your finger .... just google around!


And like many things ..... practice practice practice!!!

HillCountryGal

Think sometimes a person can get overwhelmed by all the choices.
It's not that you don't "have an eye for color".
If you go with what you like/makes you smile. That's good enough.

Wanabee Quiltin

My eye for color is too acute. I see how people mix up color and it is a shock to my senses. I do not know how I developed this sensitivity to color, but I do know that I started sewing about 56 years ago and slowly learned the differences between orange red, blue red, brown red..... I have noticed that there are many people who don't have an eye for color, so please don't feel alone.

soccertxi

I am better at color choices than I used to be. One of my ahHA moments with color was 'auditioning' fabric on my design wall. If I wanted a yellow, I would put up about 5-6 diff yellows on the wall with the other color choices. As I would walk by, one would say NO WAY..down it went. Sometimes I have 2 choices. I will take one down and see how it feels..then the other. My husband gets roped in now and then...not sure how thrilled he is about THAT! He is trooper tho and will give his opinion. Occasionally now, I will finish a quilt that is not QUITE what I had in my minds eye. I try to figure out why..and tuck that away for later. I often pick a border fabric FIRST, and the other fabric to match that. Just remember: its not rocket science...and you can learn something from each quilt you make.

bearisgray

Look at a woods that 'grew itself' - notice all the shades of green that are in there!

willferg

Maybe you aren't wrong...maybe you just have to pick what you like and like what you pick and trust yourself. I don't always like other people's color choices, but I don't think they are wrong. As long as I'm okay with what I pick, it's all good. And even if afterwards I think maybe I should have chosen a little differently, I just chalk it up to a learning experience!

Dina

I also don't have an eye for color. Because of that, I tend to do shades of one color and that works well for me, or I have a few two color combinations that I like, like yellow and blue or turquoise and purple. I recently bought a layer cake and I was delighted that I was able to make a quilt that really looked right. But that is the same thing you are saying when you talk about the same fabric line.

I find that I don't like a lot of patterned fabric together, and that complicates fabric choice too.

However, I think the "design wall" in my head is starting to work. I can almost visualize what something might end up looking like. I do, however, always make a block of what I am thinking of before I cut out all my fabric. I learned that that helped the hard way. I made a Warm and Natural pattern once that just looked awful. Didn't even finish it, just gave it to the guild and one of the ladies there made it into a useable quilt.

I have, however, learned to not fear selecting new fabric. I used to worry and worry, and now it is sort of fun. I guess that is progress.

Dina

Annie68

I'm with you lillybeck, I pick what I like and that makes it right! Don't care what others think. If the quilt is for someone else, they get to pick the colors of their choice.