i have that problem my sister goes with me she can walk thru the store and pick out some combination and they are beautiful , i am slowly learning !!

I am fairly good with colors until they get close in value. In the quilt I am working on now, I didn't realize I had switched two centers accidentally until I saw them in a photo I posted. LOL. In the photo I could clearly see that they were wrong.

I think I got that same gene. I have a friend that is fabulous with color and I take her with me. I pick focus fabric have her help me with all supporting fabrics and always add one zinger!

thanks for this site. Love it. Now maybe I can do a better job of picking colors.

There's an article in the latest issue of American Patchwork & Quilting about Terry Atkinson. It has a page on how she chooses fabrics for a scrappy quilt. I'm going to put it in my binder where I save quilting hints. It's the June issue if you want to check it out.

Great replies. I have learned alot :thumbup:

Jinny Beyer also does a lesson on choosing color.

Having said that, I feel your pain. I have read everything I can get on color and still have a hard time. My old quilt store used to help me but they are gone. So I find the first fabrics, ones that I like, and then I look for help. My DGD's seem to have gotten the picking gene, so sometimes I use them.

Great Website Sewcrafty

Choose fabrics all from the same line. They're designed to work together.

Another great idea... Thanks

Just from what you say, I'm guessing that the problem is not so much color, but color value. CraftyBear posted a link to an article about using color value in your quilts today. See Color Wheel Basics http://quilting.about.com/od/colorfa...lor_quilts.htm
and Using Color Value in your Quilts http://quilting.about.com/od/colorfa...olor_value.htm

Color value makes all the difference.

One technique is to throw out any preconcieved ideas of what colors "go" together and what looks good with what and just pick what YOU like together.. listen to that inner voice it will tell you when something is "ok" or "amazing". If I pick fabrics that are "ok" together I put them down for a while and then come back and try other combinations until I find something that really speaks to me (not literally of course) :-)

Wow! I am so happy to know I am not he only color challenged person out there, most of my quilts have 2 0r three colors because of this, I am learning to pick a print fabric then choosing fabrice that blend with that

Thanks for sharing that. It's great fun.

Lots of great information has already been mentioned here. One other piece of advice: I read somewhere not to be afraid to add some colors that you don't feel safe with, such as cheddar yellow, gastrointestinal tract green, chili pepper red, etc.

I have a quilting friend who routinely chides me because I generally shy away from buying a "matchy, matchy" line of coordinating fabrics. I'm always on the look-out for something a little more out of line with normal. When we shop together or sew together, she looks at my fabrics and shakes her head in doubt, then when the quilt is done she shakes her head in amazement at how beautiful it is (her words not mine).

Go with your gut about what you like, then add a little adventure!

What helped me the most, when I was starting, was going to quilt shows, I would really pay attention to the quilts that I loved, and the quilts that I didn't love. I tried to figure out what made the great ones, great. The more you look, the better you will get.

It's a matter of practice and personal perference. Try something new and colorful outside your comfort zone and see what you come up with.

I have decided that there a 2 kinds of color combination for quilts. One is coordinated colors that blend very well together but nothing pops. You can use the dots on the salavage of fabric to find these colors. Other kind is one that does not blend so much but uses colors and patterns that take off from focus fabric. These quilts have colors "pop". Different patterns may be better for either type. Or you may be a quilter that likes more color coordinated quilts. (I am). There are no quilt police here.

Use the color wheel for inspiration. There are basic theories that apply to color.

Do a search for color wheel, winipedia has a good explanation.
once you learn the basic prinicpals it will become easier to select colors.

Mostly I go into the fabric store, find one print I like and then find others that go well with it. That method involves a lot of picking up, putting down, standing back and squinting. If the blocks at the end look a little off, a contrasting border has always set things right.
Something nobody else mentioned is that before you go to the fabric store, print out a whole bunch of of your block pattern, find that big box of crayons and work out different color combinations on paper in order to get an idea of what to shoot for.

If I am on my own I ask my friends at the LQS to help. They always help me out but I usually do the final decision and it usually works out right.

Would it be of any value to you to look at some larger prints--------any fabric content-----------and see what colors a designer has put together to produce a pretty flower or an eye catching geometric? For that matter, how about going to an art gallery and looking at the paintings that catch you eye. In a landscape you might find colored flowers that make a picture stand out. In an abstract you might find two opposites and a third color to reallty pop--------such as black and white with hot pink (or lime, or orange, or red or ......)

If I am unsure about a color combination I take a photo with my mobile phone and have a look, this way I don't have the distraction of other bolts of fabric to confuse the issue.

Hi Tweezy, I live in Nebraska,also. Wondering in which part of the state you are living. I'm near Omaha. I struggle with color selection and usually just follow the colors of the pattern I am using. Although, at my first quilting class they did point out the little dots in the selvage and that does help. You can look for a focus fabric that catches your eye and then use the dots for coordinating fabric. One day when I was complaining to the LQS shop owner about my trouble with color, she said to me, well, did you dress yourself this morning because you seem to look OK. LOL. I do try to remember that.

I do that with my digital camera. That way I am not wasting fabric if it doesn't look right.

I'm near Omaha too!!!!