This is a great site, have used it many times.

I checked out the BQ's - thanks for the suggestion! So far I'm thinking that the TTA will work the best for the fabrics I have (I now have a large variety :oops: )

Ok - I have yet to complete one quilt - I have a pile of crumb squares but not enough yet, I have the I Spy quilt I think I'll start soon so ds can have it while it's still cold here, I have the YBR pattern waiting for a batik quilt, and I've been stashing fabric for that Tina Givens - oh, plus I'd like to make an 1800's fabric quilt. I feel like I'm tripping over myself with all of these - I want to get all of them done NOW! Someday I'd like to do a kaliedoscope.... and a log cabin.... and one with the cute little houses on it.... oh, and a special attic window one for our 25th....

To answer your question, I do it both ways. Sometimes there is a fabric that I love, other times it is the pattern. I just got this beautiful mum fabric on clearance at Joanns and whatever that becomes will start withthe fabric. I also love samplers, which can work both ways!

I start my plans with choosing color and recipient first. The primary colors, number and value, affect the pattern you choose. For instance, if your color choices can be sorted into darks and lights, you will need a pattern that looks good with high contrast colors, such as Log Cabin. If you will have three main colors, you will need a different pattern. If your colors are all of the same value, you will need an all-over pattern designed for low contrast.

The intended recipient also affects the pattern. Contemporary or traditional, young or old, simple or complicated pattern, etc.

I'm in the middle of this process right now. I am making quilts for my six nieces, who are all in their twenties. I want their quilts to be very different and unique to the person.

They have given me their color choices, and I will make controlled color scrappy quilts. Two of them, who happen to be sisters, selected browns and creams, so I chose two very different patterns that were suitable for two high-contrast colors. To make them interesting, I have bought many, many browns- I'm up to 55 now. Finding enough creams has been more of a challenge.

I have two nieces that are artists. Their quilts are the biggest challenge for me. Surprisingly, they weren't as specific about colors because they think like artists, not decorators, about color. One named all the colors she loved, which are most of them, and the other said "soft" colors (She lives in a cabin in the Maine woods-- so I keep seeing something different in my mind!). Doubly challenging because they live thousands of miles away and I have never seen their homes!

The fifth and sixth nieces gave me three colors; current decorating trends, so I have chosen modern fabrics. I had many more choices in patterns for three main colors.

When I'm fabric shopping, I see color, contrast, density of pattern, geometric/floral before manufacturer, designer, or theme.

Good question. My answer would have to be both. I have collections of fabrics just waiting for the right pattern to come along and I have patterns I haven't found the right fabrics for yet.

My stash is used alot for fill in colors for a fabric I want to use in a project.

Me too - fabric stash and pattern/magazine stash just waiting.....waiting.... :)

it is a mixture of both. Some times a pattern yells at me, and I have to buy material just for it. Sometimes the material yells at me,and I later have to find a pattern for it.

I'm not really sure; it's kind of a chicken or the egg situation for me. I design my own patterns and I build the quilt mostly from stash, filling in the "holes" as necessary by buying what's missing. Part of the pattern design process is having a deep knowledge of what's available in my stash so they are really working together from the very beginning. Hope that makes sense to someone besides just me. :oops:

I guess I'm just afraid that I'll have some wonderful fabric and then want to use it for a gorgeous quilt - and the realize I should've bought just 1/2 yard more, but now I can't get it. I can see where it would be easier to start with the pattern - but it's so hard not to grab fun fabric...