Challenge working with new fabric designs
 

What challenges are you finding in working with the new fabrics designs. Have you had to change the way you design quilts ( selection of scale etc). I wonder how many of the new designers are quilters. New designs don't appear to follow our usual concept of...large, medium, small/ background prints with variation of color and value.

I'm assuming you're referring to the "modern" movement. One of the books on modern quilting said a definition of it is that there are no rules. This can be freeing or scary depending upon how comfortable you are with pushing the boundries. The ones I like remind me of Mary Meco (sp). I love simplicity.

I work with blocks with many small pieces; I just finished a 12" block that had over 160 pieces. I can't see using (and paying so much) for such large scale designs just to cut them up and lose that design, scale, and contrast. The prices at our LQS also went up about $1.00/yard on the new arrivals. Love the new colors, just can't figure out how to use them in my style of quilting.

With so many choices out there, I don't vex myself with fabric I don't know how to use. Also, by the time I get around to buying the "new" stuff, it isn't so new anymore and usually in clearance ;-)

Good question. I find myself attracted to "modern" fabrics. I like the openness of the designs and am always attracted to large scale prints (just check out my stash - I never have enough blenders). It looks great in angular quilts with lots of background to separate it from other fabric, but the fabric doesn't seem to fit well in more traditional settings.

I like modern quilts but will never make only that type. So while I am always drawn to them in LQS, I usually don't purchase because I can't quite figure out how it will fit in the quilts I make. I'm sure I will keep trying though. :)

The key word is 'challenge'. I recently decided to enter a major quilt challenge and when I saw the fabrics for the first time, I was blown away! I normally use solids, blenders, small prints and tonals...nothing at ALL like what was in the challenge packet.

They are bright, bold, large, vibrant prints from Jane Dixon at Andover Fabrics that are definitely challenging my design skills, but I'm loving being pushed to look at things differently and am really quite excited about all the new possibilities. I love doing challenges for the simple reason that they really do expand your horizons. You can't help but learn something along the way. LOL

Omg, i so identify with this! I only started quilting 2 years ago. For the first year, i had to have every cute follection out there. Since i had never quilted before, i was doing simple, large pieces which showed off the fabric but aren't all that unique. About a year ago i did Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street mystery quilt with zillions of tiny pieces. Now all i want to do is intricate pieced blocks and those collection fabrics just don't work. Last week i got all those collections together, i have 15 piles of fabric that don't work for what i like to do now. Oh, i'll do something with them, but i know i won't love them! Now, all i buy is remnants and sale fabrics in small prints. Live and learn! Jo in NC

I do find the new designs challenging because I like the piecing process a lot. This means I am not content just to sew large squares and rectangles of big scale fabrics into rows. Some of the fabrics, I take the time to really figure out good blocks to use them in; some fabrics I decide not to buy for this reason.

I have to agree with others that there is enough fabric choices so that we do not have to be challenged unless we want to with the new designs. I love to look at them, but mostly can't afford to buy them. Must use what I have.

I have seen some very creative use of these fabrics, so some are finding it no challenge at all.

Yellow Brick Road is a good pattern for the newer large print fabrics. Used it also for a batik bedspread and get a lot of compliments on it.

I find that I'm not attracted to the new lines coming out. I did pick up a FQ bundle 3 times in a LQS before I purchased it. I chose to make a D4P, and found out that it was too small for the large flowers. But, the colors are pretty. It makes it so much easier to go to my stash and my batiks. Nice to try it. But so far, I haven't really jumped into that pool with both feet. I am just observing for that something that says, you have to do this!

Since I tend to lean toward traditional rather than modern many of the new design just don't work, I have to really be careful....thank fabric fairy for my stash, but I guess everything has a place....But they certainly are a treat to look at...some might even make cute wallpaper!

I'm not overly attracted to the 'modern' quilting movement. Not really fond of most of the colorways or designs. More of a traditionalist when it comes to quilting. That said, I usually like more contemporary fabrics in traditional designs. Some of the patterns really need at least a bit of a large scale fabric so the newer fabrics may work. I also only buy for projects and rarely use a 'line' of fabric when selecting for a project.

For most of what I do, I usually need large; medium; small scale within each project.

Many of the "new" fabrics are hard for me to work with also -- by the time I figure out what to do with them there will be a new collection to figure out!

I don't buy the new lines. I'm just starting and am on a tight budget. I also prefer either small prints or solids though I did buy a couple yards of a dark blue fabric with large flowers on it at the thrift store. Neat looking fabric and the price was right but I'm not sure how I'm going to use it yet.
Rodney

The only quilt shop I've been in lately is a shop that features a lot of redwork and hand embroidery. She doesn't carry any of the Amy Butler types of fabrics. I did buy some winter fabric there. I like theme fabric - lodgy stuff, lighthouses, seashells, that kind of fabric. I can find it around here easily.

I do not buy "collections". I have a really good sized stash so I can often make whole quilts using that.

However, if I were to purchase all new fabric for a quilt----I would look for a fairly large scale print for the border that I loved. Maybe choose a couple more fabrics from that collection but then would walk around the whole quilt store looking for fabric that would work well with the big one. If it has those little dots on the selvedge, it is very easy.

The pattern of the quilt would help determine what type of fabric I would purchase.

I am not fond of the large, flowery prints, chevron printed fabric or anything with a definite striped look. I'm more of a traditionalist.

Most of the time, I prefer to have the quilt design be the focus of my quilts, not the fabric design. So I mostly avoid the "modern" fabrics. They also tend to have colors and designs that I find a bit jarring; for example I recently saw a fabric with fuschia, brown, and orange in one very large print.

ha! I'm the very opposite - more into the fabrics and colors, with very simple designs. I find myself often bothered by scale, so i haven't gotten into the modern quilts with big slabs of color. I even scaled down YBR.

one thing I truly don't get, though, is why manufacturers' patterns, designed to go with a given fabric line, often require you to hack their fabrics into small, unrecognizable pieces. I'd think it would be the opposite, something to show off their fabrics.

hugs, charlotte

Charlotte, I don't get that either - but even the traditionalists have large scale prints where they get hacked up into bits. (Check Windham and Kaufman free patterns).

I think the difference is when you cut a modern print into small pieces there is such uneven color variation that the block design is sometimes lost, where in the traditional you can still follow the scheme, just with more texture/variation.

I just got some wild very modern FQ for Christmas and I am puzzling over them now. When I finish hand appliqueing my first Baltimore block maybe I'll have a look at using them in a Swoon.

That's an interesting observation. I hadn't thought of that. But then, i'm a bit thrown by large florals, too, even though they're beautiful. Clearly, I need to find a great traditional pattern for them and venture out more. :).

hugs,
charlotte

I'm with you here too. I think if the design is actually dramatic in a big scale type way, it is a shame to cut it up into small pieces, totally losing that "bang". If all we need is color or shade/tone, you can use any fabric you want, as long as it is in that color scheme and get the same effect.

I was just looking at some fabric at Hancock's of Paducah, and I liked some of of it that had a huge scale to it. Really impressive fabric as fabric and if I bought it, I'd try to leave some of that pizzazz (coleus flowers).

However, I'm letting the day pass without using my 20% off code (expires tonight)...just because I don't need anything they offer at the this point that is cheap enough under my self-decided upon price limit.

I haven't bought many fabrics from the new collections - I tend to haunt clearance bins, like some of the other posters! Occasionally I'll use a large scale print (especially home dec style) for the back of placemats so that one side is a little bitty pieced design, and the other is a big bold fabric print, which gives full reversibility without fussing with making two separate pieced sides. That's a function choice, though, and not really what I think Holice was asking about.

Another approach I've taken with large scale stuff is to make blocks that have a border, or edging (could even be four squares in the corner, doesn't have to be contiguous) and fussy cut so that it looks like the large scale print is behind the other pieces - sort of like a fractured pattern. Time consuming, and wasteful, but can look pretty cool.

Alison

My biggest conflict is that I really do love the newer fabrics and colors but I'm not about to redecorate my home so they would fit better. Well except for a small bathroom that I have decided to paint grey and indulge my newfound love of yellow and grey! So I am planning on table toppers and smaller projects with my new stuff. And my new quilting room is full of brighter colors which I love. I'm pretty eclectic about fabric and color actually.

I've stayed away from the new designs. I'm not "in" to modern quilting, at least not yet. I'm still working on mastering the old basics! But it is very pretty fabric.

[QUOTE=IrishNY;6485525]Good question. I find myself attracted to "modern" fabrics. I like the openness of the designs and am always attracted to large scale prints (just check out my stash - I never have enough blenders).

IrishNY- too bad you and I live so far apart...I have way too many blenders and not enough focus fabrics. Lol!

GeriB, you hit the nail on the head! I never thought about it before but I can see wallpaper from the 60's and 70's in it too. The groovy era.

I guess I'm not picky....I like it all. Solids, blenders, wild prints, subtle prints, novelty prints, 30's prints, big prints, little prints... I get different inspirations from them all so I don't rule anything out. My stash is very eclectic!

I DO like modern quilts quite a bit although I haven't really made one yet. I also like traditional quilts, wall quilts, art quilts, simple quilts, fussy quilts....

Lately I've been on a 'big block' kick, which is great for large prints.

I suppose I'm a modern quilter, if the only rule is that there are no rules. I will gladly mix themes and fabric eras if it gives me the effect I'm going for. And then sometimes I turn out a quilt that looks just like something my Grandma would have made. :)

...'ain't nothing wrong with that...where would we be without her!!!!!!

The large prints make great stack n whack type...........or fussy cut surrounded by traditional pieced something or other. IMHO

I find that I love the color combinations, but not the prints. I don't get very excited about just sewing 2 1/2 inch WOF strips together and calling it a quilt. I love the idea of making the old traditional quilt patterns. The historical aspects and traditions of quilting are what drew me into this addiction in the first place.

I definitely agree - there are enough fabric choices for anyone. I often like to use big prints but I don't do big blocks. I look at it just like I would a colorful batik, cut it up and it looks like I used 4 fabrics instead of 1. I know that this won't work for every pattern, but it really does work quite often.

I agree with you dc989, I, too, love the historical aspects of quilting and love to make the "old" patterns. While I love the colors in some of the modern material, I would rather use my traditional fabric. Glad I have a large enough stash to keep me busy doing my type of quilting.

My first reaction to big prints is usually kaleidoscope!!! Lol, that's not much of a challenge, and I'm sure not what it's designers had in mind.
I am most fond of the traditional florals and love piecing blocks. I do plan to make a BQ pattern with some of my larger prints, but still not making it into the really big modern prints.

I have never cared much for small, "traditional" prints so I love the new modern fabric designs. The challenge is finding patterns that don't lose the fabric's overall look by chopping it up into tiny pieces. So I find I am making more big block quilts to show off the larger print. The upside to this is that the quilts go together so much faster this way and I can make more quilts in less time.