Your list of "quilts to be made" will get longer and longer LOL It is just the way that it works :D:D:D

Yes, not having enough fabric is a fear of many, that is why some of us buy 2-3+ yards of a favorite fabric :wink: and then it can still not be enough if we try using it in a couple of quilts LMBO That is when we have to get creative 8-)8-)8-)

I have to answer both+ Sometimes I see a pattern and know just the fabric to use. Other times, I have to find the right fabric (preferrably from my ever-growing stash). Sometimes, I have a fabric in mind and find a pattern. When I have a specific person in mind, the picture gets a bit more complicated and I may play around with different versions until I pick one.

On occasion, I started with one pattern and while looking through the stash, run across a fabric that dictates a different pattern.

Oh, I forgot to add the denim circle quilt to my list. :shock:

I'm beginning to understand how easy it can be to build a stash first - which makes me want to ask - why does anyone buy fabric from JoAnn's or even a lqs? It is so easy to find what appears to be good quality fabric for $2.50 - $3.50/yd online!

For me it depends. I found a piece with hummingbirds on it, and I bought 1 yard, not knowing how I would make it, but my mil loves hummingbirds. I found the perfect pattern, it is dusty meadows, in one of the 2008 issues of quiltmaker magazine. I did do some fussy cutting, but I think it will be gorgeous when I get it done.

Sometimes, I will see a pattern that I like, and will just wait till I find the perfect fabric. Sometimes if I know who the quilt is for, it helps me know what colors I want to go with.

I do a lot of medallion type quilts. I put a focal piece in the center and just keep adding borders all around. Different sizes and different blocks or just strips of fabrics. Sort of like the In The beginning type quilts. Then again, I'm not a matchy, matchy type person...
Just have fun! XO

Online you can't fill your senses. The colors, the textures, the scents - and some sites are not true in color.

I do the same - when I see a fabric I love, I always get at least a yard. When I see a pattern I love, I get it for "later."

I have done both.

Just last week my DD challenged me with color selection. I wanted to make her a quilt to take on her choir trips - there is at least a trip a semester with her college groups. So I took her to our lqs to have her choose two or three colors. She came away with 5 - a dark teal, a teal print, a pink/purple/teal, a dark purple with tiny teal dots, and a bright orange - all these are batiks. She added - get this - an oriental print. It took fussy cutting and about 6 hours of coloring possible patterns to decide an original would work out best. But I knew if I picked the colors, it would not go with her. She would just leave it at home.

So - my advice - look at some of the available patterns. Get out your colored pencils, and see how the colors play together. Find one you like. Then go for it!

;)

I've done it both ways. Usually it's the pattern than the fabric.

Ok, this is probably going to sound like a dumb question, but - say you've been collecting fabric and have a stack of 1 yd here and 2 yds there, a few FQ's here - and then you find a pattern and think that these fabrics would be fun to use. How in the world do you know if you have enough of which one to use?? Do some patterns tell you to use so much of a light fabric and so much of a dark? Or do you just have to measure and figure?