My stash is growing weekly. (When I bring home new fabric or receive it in the mail it feels like I ate chocolate!!). I Have downloaded lots of patterns and have so many books but I am getting confused about what fabrics should go with what patterns. How do you all figure this out?

Which one calls out to be used in a quilt! I call it my inspritation fabric and pull colors from there.

Ps... I am not hiding... I don't know how to edit my profile!

Click on My Profile at the top of this page. Easy from there.

I bundle them together. If I have a pattern I want to make I put it and all the fabric I have for it to date in an extra large zip lock bag.

Cuts down on confusion!

But when you want to use the fabrics how do you choose the "right" pattern? I am getting overwhelmed by the choices.

Smart

Hello. Go my 'My Profile' at the top of the page, open it and way down on the page is your location. You can change it there. You may have to save changes.

I have to know who I'm making a quilt for, choose the feature fabric that suits that person , then find a pattern and back up fabrics.

I have alot of patterns and a very little stash. So I will find a pattern and than find the fabric that goes with it. Because of how small my stash is I normaly have to go out and get it. I only buy what I need for a project with only a small amount of extra for mistakes. The rare time I don't mess things up cutting it out, I have stash builder. Normaly only 1/4 or 1/2 yard. So you see why I have to buy as I go.

Should I use a regular computer instead of my ipad to do profile stuff?

I usually start with the purpose of the quilt.

Who is it for?
What is the purpose?
Will it be a heavily used quilt?

Then knowing who it is for, I can determine the pattern and fabrics.

Seems to work for me this way easiest.

(I love the new fabric feel too....might be the reason for the pile of fabric)

That's a good method. I make quilts for myself (family incl.) but wanting to use the fabric and then finding how to use it makes sense.

Try. It won't hurt anything. My son just came to visit and showed me how to post a picture. I just couldn't make sense of the directions.
:oops: :oops: :oops:

As for deciding "what with what?", find a quilt you like and use it for inspiration. Don't make a carbon copy but see if you have something in your stash that might work. Don't fret. It's a learning experience......experienced quilters make sample blocks to evaluate pattern and fabric.

Cutting is such a committment but I shouldn't be such a cuttophobe.

You're right. And if I screw up there is always more beautiful fabric in the store!

I have a fairly large stash now, so I usually, though not always, start with the fabric. I get a "feel" for what pattern will suit it. Then I start looking through books and magazines with only that group of fabrics in mind, something will usually jump out at me, if not, I don't force it, I will just keep looking maybe for weeks before I find just the right way to use the fabric. If I do see a pattern I love, I will go to my stash and look through it with that pattern in mind and see if some group of fabrics "jump" out at me. I have my fabric stored in groups that I intend to use together, so it is easier to envision them in a quilt without going through all my fabrics individually. Once I have the basic idea and fabrics set, I might need to add to the fabrics or take something out that doesn't work. This is the most fun part of quilting for me.

Usually I find a pattern and then get the fabric.

The right pattern is the one that calls to you. I don't think there is really such a thing as the "right pattern". You are doing the work, so it needs to please you. If you are gifting it then you may want to consider the person who is getting it, in your decision. I let the fabric tell me what it wants to be. Remember, quilting is SUPPOSED to be fun, so don't make a big fuss about your decisions.

Success! Ipads don't work for this. Had to use laptop.

Pattern - most of the time.

Always the pattern. I choose my design. Look into the stash and if I can't find what fit my fancy. Off I head to my favorite fabric places.

I think I will dive right into this head first. I am bugging myself with indecisiveness. I will pick a pattern then the bundle to use. Or I will post picks of my fabric choices and ask for pattern suggestions...

I try to only buy fabric to go with a pattern. That way I get only correct amount neede for that pattern. And then I put pattern with fabric in a plastic box and try to mark pattern or paper which fabric is to be used where. It is very easy to get confused and forget which pattern or where the fabric is to be used. I try not to buy fabric for which I do not know which patterns since I can not afford to have too big of a stash. That said- I do have fabric with pattern for about 10 quilts for myself! New pattern means new fabric!

Why don´t you go through your stash and put it in colour batches. This way when you choose your pattern its not such a huge pile to go through each time you want a colour.
Just a thought, hope it helps.

Me well, its usually the pattern first and then I decide on my colours.

Elle

Sometimes the fabric and sometimes the pattern. You see one you just have to make or you see, (or are given) fabric that you just know what to do with.

This is what I do.

I see you aren't "in hiding" anymore. That's what you do....learn as you do.
I often see a pic of a quilt that looks like one I'd like to make.Of course,there's already one half done & can't let myself start a 2nd till 1st is done....that's just me....or I'd have a dozen in line.
The fun is checking stash & making a note of what I'll need before I can make it.
BTW...if you're making a scrappy quilt,anything goes as to color/pattern.
Don't worry about it.....just find a pattern that speaks to you/your ability & away you go!

PS check some sites like Quilter's Cache.......Google quilter's blogs Have fun.

Personally, I prefer to start with the pattern, that way I know exactly how much fabric I need (although I always buy extra just in case).

If I absolutely fall in love with a fabric I'll usually buy the whole bolt, but that's usually when I'm shopping for clothing fabrics!

I only buy fabrics with a pattern in mind

I can relate to your question... too many nice options with patterns and with beautiful fabrics... I have not finished piecing my first "real" size quilt and I am trying to figure out what I will be doing next with all the nice fabrics that I started collecting. So.... this information given here will help me also loll

While I am in the throes of making one quilt, I have in the back of my mind the next one - that being a quilt for our next door neighbor. Have already decided that it is going to be a sampler, have already picked out and printed up the designs and while I am doing this I am thinking what colors, hopefully choosing colors that match with her living room (it's going to be a coverlet for a cold winter's night). So I guess it would be the pattern. However, I picked out the fabric for our Anniversary quilt (50th) first. So, I guess it is a horse a piece. Depending on that precise moment when the words "another quilt" comes into mind.

That's what makes it all so much fun!!!!!! I don't like to have to do this or that, I like it all to just flow from the heart and Devil take the high road!!!!!! Oh, don't get me wrong totally - I do plan on things I have to do but that keeps me attuned to where I am and possibly why I am here.

It really doesn't matter, does it? Edie

It is only fabric not arms and legs. Have some fun. I like to audition fabric to go with each other. I have 2 pieces, lets say, I am captured by them. So they lay on the floor, I am going through my other neatly folded ones and as I find a possible, I throw it on the floor. I am not so close that I cannot see another really good one. I am not locked into, "this was bought together to make this". I can explore more options. I live the creative process. Happy Quilting.

sorry about the double post

No problem Gigi, I have sorted it for you.

Elle

some fabrics are destined to be in a certain quilt when I get them, others I just love and know I will use. When that pattern shows itself--and I may actually see this pattern many times before it speaks up--I know which fabric is the highlighted fabric that will determine the colors of the others in the quilt.
There are no rules and any fabric can be in any pattern if that is what You want to make. Go for it!

Usually the pattern for me. I see something I like and then I work the fabric colors around it. I don't have enough stash yet to try to work something out with what I have. I don't have enough to complete anything from the stash I have.

Why is it we get such a rush when we buy fabric? I feel the same as you do. I just love to sit and feel it. Ah what is that commercial? The touch the feel of cotton. the fabric of our lives..

I don't think there is "one" right pattern.

Sometimes, I start with the pattern and then I decide on a color line. From there I audition what goes together in my mind. It could help if you took a black and white photocopy of the pattern. That way you are not tied to THEIR color choices but instead work only with color value.

Sometimes, I start with the fabric and it tells me very loudly WHAT it wants to be or who the recipient should be. Then I go from there and add companion fabric as needed.

If I ever get everything for a quilt together, I put it in its own plastic box. I have found ones that will hold all the fabric and the pattern and will hold the squares when I start on them. I put the pattern on the top so I can see what the box is for.

Me too. some shout and some whisper.