Anyone Else Do This?
 

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! :p

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. :)

Just seeing how many trips you made back and forth made me exhausted. Called DH and reminded him it was chicken night. Too tired to cook after reading your post. Gonna have a conversation with "Bud" and wait on the chicken. All this for a casual quilt. Hope you find the purple you want. Take photos of the material you have that should help you choose the purple tones. I'm thirsty.:)

LOL,
What ever blue doesn't match, send it over! I will find it a nice place where "it feels right".

Many times I see quilts with different shades of blues, purples and love it but it does happen to me that when I try to put them together they don't "go" together. I am currently gathering blues for a set of placemats, these will be shaped like a fish and done with strips of all different blues. I found some but same story, other just don't go.

good luck. show us a picture so we can give you our opinion. Or we can just take a pick at your project!
andrea

I have been where you are... when searching for the right fabrics ... the tones or shades can be very tricky ! I can't tell you how many times I start out missing just two.. and end up with enough fabric for two or more quilts. I even take the fabrics with me , but then get home and no this one is not quite right. The search can be fun but it can also be very frustrating.

If 8 or 9 blues don't work together, add another 20 or 30. Then they'll all look good and play nicely together.

I have a rough time with blues, there are grey blue, bright blue, light blue, navy blue, etc...ad nauseam. I wish you luck!

I think most people tend to try to "match" fabrics together rather than pick fabrics that coordinate. Sometimes the one that you think looks "off" is the one that makes the rest sparkle. :) I like to lay some white or muslin out on the bed and toss some fabrics on it randomly. I think it helps to find the right mix.

I agree with Katier825 - you don't want to "match" too much or the quilt will be blah! That off one can be the one that makes the quilt a winner. I made a scrap quilt for my granddaughter using only blues from my stash. Some I thought were really going to be ugly but the whole thing came together nicely!

Yeah, I could just put the two sets together. With that many different shades, it wouldn't matter so much. If this new blue doesn't work out, I may do that. Thanks for the idea! :thumbup:

Ooooh! Fish! That sounds like fun! Would love to see pictures, when you finish!

I would send you my reject blues but I've almost got enough for an "other" blues quilt! :D

Exactly! There are soft blues and bright blues. Greenish blues, true blues, violet blues, and grey blues. Then some of the patterns just don't "belong" together. :rolleyes:

The look I'm trying to achieve, with this quilt, is a calming blend of different blues. I "feel" the difference, more than "see" it, if that makes any sense. I understand what you're saying about the sparkle factor but trust me, that isn't the case with the "reject" blues. They would work with some of the others but just not with the group, as a whole. It just has to "feel right," to me.

Of course, I'll probably find a million things wrong with my choices, about half-way through the top. That almost always happens, regardless. :p

My goal is to make a variety of sofa/twin sized quilts, for family gifts. :)

Sort of working on assembling a series of blues myself for a project. Honestly, haven't done much looking at this point. Need about 12 that work together AND work with a variety of burgundies. Hmmm. I agree, it's all about the 'feeling'.

We're quite the gluttons for punishment, aren't we? :D Seriously, that sounds like an awesome combination! :thumbup:

The Quilt Across Texas (I see you are in Central Texas) Shop Hop is going on for the month of September and many LQS have sales to go along with the hop. Also, some of the online stores have great prices on FQs, etc., so you might check out their blues, too.
Good luck,
Georgia

Don't we end up being our own worst enemy (and a quilt store's best friend!!) Lay them all out on a bed covered with a white sheet. DO NOT OVERLAP. Go to bed yourself (no not in the same bed or room!!) Get up in the morning, pour yourself a cup of your favourite brew and take a look. Bet things will look different. Love blues in any hue.

Thanks! I'll look it up and see if any are near me. I'm officially in Central TX but practically on the South Central TX line. :)

I gave them several days (been collecting, for about a week), on my white cutting table. Even pulled the table next to the doorway, to view them in natural light. They simply refuse to play nicely. :( I still have the newest blue, which hasn't yet met the others, so there's still hope. :thumbup: If that doesn't work out, I'll just do one of the other groups, first.

Blues, and greens are hard to do!!!!!

Yes, unless I purchase all of he fabric I need for my quilt at the same time I often find myself going back multiple times for a little different shade of this one or that one. That's what makes my stash grow. LOL

I'm making a scrappy with blues and neutrals right now. Turns out most of my leftover blues have a royal/bright tone to them and I'd imagined this one being more dark/sedate blue. So I started mixing what I had (since it was supposed to come from leftovers in my stash ie:scrappy) and ended up purchasing more 1/4 yd pieces to cut up for strips, to mix in. As of last night, I was starting to like the look of the mix, but yesterday morning I was thinking I'd end up splitting the blues and making two smaller quilts, one bright and one dark.

This is definitely one of the reasons I have such a big stash. I change my mind on colors as I'm going. I just don't have the ability to envision what all the fabrics will look like when they're cut up and put next to one another. Not a bad problem to have in the big scheme of things though...

I once saw a quilt titled "A Glad of Blues." That name has always stuck with me. The quilter had at least 9 different blues, ranging from navy to turquoise to powder. If I were to "dissect" the blues, I would second guess whether they "went" together. But seeing it all together in A Glad of Blues convinced me: the turquoise (which I would have left out if I'd been to critical) really was the one that gave it the zing.

But to answer your question, yes, I have been doing the same thing (back and forth to the shop) for the right pink. I am making a baby quilt for my newborn niece and I am new to this, so have little stash.

Be different and throw in a lime green or two. Hugs

If you think blues are hard, try grey. I've been trying to collect some for a bargello for my son for quite a long time, still searching.

Well...I usually carry my fabrics I need to match with me whan I go. But, at least you worked it out. Can't wait to see your quilt....

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.

When I find myself looking for that "perfect color", I find that I just need to stand back a little. Usually, I have one that will do fine. I have also used that trick where you photograph the fabrics to see if something stands out as being "off". But then it never hurts to have a good stash.

Been there, done that. I'm glad I have a fairly decent stash to pick from. When I need to add more fabrics, I take my entire selection with me to match up. Sometimes I end up with a whole new collection as my eyes tend to wander over all the beautiful fabrics and if one of them speaks to me, I grab it with no idea what I'll do with it later. I'm my own worse enemy in a fabric store.............:-)

I've had exactly the same experience with blue fabrics. For me it's an issue with the neutrals – some blues pull toward being matched with creams, some more towards white. It's the difference (to me anyway) between the subdued and the bright. Yes, you could probably throw them together, but you are right, the feeling isn't there...

I'm not doing scrappy. :)

Thank you! :)

When I am trying to match fabric, I cut a piece a little bit smaller than an index card and attach the fabrics to an index card. That way I have pieces of the fabric with me I am trying to match up. I am in Alabama with no near quilt shops. In Killeen TX, Quiltin Country, keeps records of what you buy. I've ordered online from them. They are very friendly and will fax scans of fabric to you. My son is stationed at Fort Hood and when we go visit my DIL makes sure a trip to the shop is included in our plans:).

Oh no, I thought that was just normal! I am like this all the time. That is why I think I have a fabric store for a stash! HA!

Since we have to walk through the livingroom to get anywhere else, I always put a white sheet over the couch and then drape my project over the sheet - and leave it there for a few days (o.k. so we don't get much company) After a few times through I can start moving, removing and adding. The first walk-through in the morning proves to be the most revealing. This works for me! Good Luck with the blues, they are the most challenging color.

I hope you are enjoying the run around process. I do it a lot, but find it a lot of fun to find the pieces I want.

Breaking News! Just ordered 8 new candidates, from Thousandsofbolts! WooooHoooo!!! Figure if I get enough blues, I'll surely have 9 that play well together! :thumbup: I mean . . . it's inevitable, right? :D

I did a quilt with nine shades of grey. I now have tons of grey fabric. One thing that I make sure of when I buy a fabric is that I have to actually like the fabric, and am not buying it just because it matches another fabric. Just like you, I have to "feel" that the fabrics that I'm going to use are right. I have lots of quilting books about color, But I don't pay attention to any thing they say when picking out fabric. I do wish, though, that there was a gadget like a hand held flashlight that had a natural light bulb in it so that the light in the stores don't affect the colors so much.

Yes!! This is to me the big challenge in matching..It's ok to sit on my quilts" helped me to get over the "perfect match syndrome" and putting pieces in a bag and pulling them out and putting them together helped also..ones I think do not fit seem to pull out the other colors and turn out more beautiful than the ones I labor over!!
I think this is how my over loaded stash has gotten so large. so I am trying to use up some pieces I have had for 50 years and it is time to get them made up:) don't have time to put them off any longer!! I am pleased to get them finished into quilts!!

You really have to go with your gut when choosing fabrics, but I agree that some that seem "oddball" can end up being the ones that give the quilt the most interest and movement. Without seeing your collection of blues there isn't much advice we can offer except to encourage you to 'trust your instincts'!