And if you start with the fabric - how do you choose a pattern for it?

I've been slowly collecting Tina Givens fabrics because I love her prints - I want them to show enough, but at the same time, not be huge individual pieces - does that make sense? So how would I go about choosing a pattern for it? Unfortunately I have all size pieces from yardage to charm squares.

Find a charm square pattern that you can swap around to include larger pieces? I was going to say a Turning Twenty would be great - I especially like the Turning Twenty Again - lots of smaller piece, more variety in shapes and sizes... Or maybe a charm pattern with borders and also piece a back, so it's reversible?

Grab a pot of coffee and head over to quilters cache :D:D:D
There are hundreds of blocks and all sizes too!!!
One or more of these will jump out and grab you...then you can start thinking about borders out of your stash and you will have a beautiful quilt :D:D:D

http://www.quilterscache.com

I've done both - started with fabric and started with a pattern. When starting with fabric and there are several sizes involved I tend toward either scrappy, log cabin, or any of the wonderful books that work with layer cakes or jelly rolls. I'm excited to see where you head with your project - love to see pictures!

Oooo - that turning 20 again could work... the different fabrics could be used in the square/rectangle sizes that would show them off the best - and since I have such a mish-mash of colors and patterns, the randomness of this quilt would work. And it sounds like it's a beginners pattern too, which is what I need!

Do you have a favorite shop to buy patterns from?

I'm a stickler for my local quilt shop - but my aunt works there and my son has nearly grown up there, so that's no surprise! - but lots of places sell patterns.

The Turning Twenty Again is really easy - it was the second quilt I made, and really simple. Really fun too - it's one of my favorites in the house :)

Take a look at the BQ and BQ2 patterns by Maple Island Quilts...if you don't have enough of your prized fabs to get the largest square requirement, you could "build" a patchwork block of your smaller yet similar pieces up to the required size. I "framed" some interesting fabric to get to size. I think you might get an interesting design that would be unique to your quilt but would still showcase your special fabric. Just a suggestion.

Bobbinwinder that is exactly what I was going to suggest ! LOL!

Bobbinwinder I too love these patterns. I made a Thomas train one from BQ and I`m going to order BQ2 THey go together so fast.
Gale

Fabric, almost all the time. My fabrics are rarely purchased with a project in mind; they simply are the ones that sing the loudest to me in the shop.
And they come home, and they try to make friends with what I own, and eventually, they turn into a grouping, and I will decide on a pattern!

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...

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?

Some patterns do tell you how much light, medium and dark is needed. (The scrap quilt patterns on Quiltville indicate by that manner.) You can also, if taking a pattern from quilterscache, take her measurements of what is needed for one block and multiply by the number of blocks you would like.

I do this all the time. Sometimes I run out of one of the fabrics, but as we seem to collect a "style"? there is ususlly something else in the stash that I add.

I do both.
to me the best part of quilting is choosing the fabric:)