Have you ever gone into a fabric store hoping to match up fabric that you already have started a quilt on, browsed around until you found something that you thought was a pretty good match, then when you get home and look at it again the next day say "oh my goodness, what was I thinking"? That is what I did this week. I started a queen size quilt for my daughter for Christmas last week and needed more fabric for borders, so I thought no problem, I'll just get solid color fabric because I really didn't want to add more color to it. I just wanted solid colors for the borders. When I looked at the fabric at home it was a terrible choice. I don't know what I was thinking when I bought it. I even had several pieces of fabric that I was using to coordinate with. So I went back today and did much better on the fabric. Thank Goodness...

Some days that's how it goes...I'm happy that today was better for you:)

ALL THE TIME!

I find I buy too many prints, and the quilt becomes too busy, so I have to go back for solids, or fabric that reads a solid. I've also found that it's very difficult to match color in the lights of the fabric store. I've learned to carry my choices to a window.

Or I run short, go back to get more & they are sold out, not getting any more of it in stock & the mfg 'ain't making no more". ERRRRR. Just went thru that. Went 2 3 quilt shops Thurs., picked out a pink I thought that would match (had a sample piece with me to make sure the pinks matched up) then when I got it home, it's REALLY not the same color pink at all! <sigh> Oh well, I just guess I'm going to have to go shopping again!!!! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :XD:

That's a good idea...I'll get closer to the window...I do that same thing with the print fabrics...I'm always buying prints because they are just so much more attractive to look at...but like you said you can't have too many prints together in one quilt top...or at least for this particular quilt i had all the prints I wanted...

Been there! Now I ask the employees for help.

I have found to either take scraps or even the unfinished quilt for me. Every color has so many shades and sometime they look horrible together. Glad you found the right one.

Take 2" sample squares on a safety pin with you. Easy to carry and you can be sure to like the fabrics together.

One of the LQS near me has terrible lighting. If I do not go to the door or outside to double check my colors , I am in for a not so good surprise when I get home.

I have bought fabric in the store that I thought it looked like I wanted and when I got it home it wasn't the right color. I think it is the lighting in the store.

I think its the lighting too in some stores.

I think it is the lighting as well. One time, the store had a "line" of fabric together -- at least so I thought -- it was actually two different lines which I learned after I purchased the fabrics and brought them home. AND, they looked terrible together at home. They looked fine at the store.

I've done that and the sales cleck would convinced me it would work. I hate it when I do that.

Been there, done that many times. I think the florescent lights in the stores create some of that kind of problem. Especially with the solids.

Oh that's a great idea for next time I want more fabric. I'll just say I bought this but it doesn't match and I can't return it so I have to buy more. :lol:

YEP...now I keep tiny pieces on an index card in my purse with the yardage amount I need!

Yes, I think we have all done this at one time or another (smile).

MOST qult shops I have been to have really terrible lighting. And you can't get near a winodw cause there's so much stuff jammed in there. This is true all over the country. Why is this?

I actually have a small battery operated OTT light. It's amazing how many quilt shops don't have natural light so you can really see your choices.

It's on sale at Joann's right now for $8

http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/p...zprd_02444446a

YES!~ lol
This one shop though, she talks me out of using what I want to use... Not shy about voicing her opinion. lol

I did bring samples of the fabric that I was using and I'm telling you I think I just had a brain lapse. I made a bad choice that day. But today I made a much better one. I guess there's quite a few of us that have done the same thing.

Done the same myself, now I take a piece of the fab with me. I've also packed a queen size quilt with me to match up binding.

It's the light spectrum of the bulb. Many of the big box stores have a display in the paint department with the different bulbs showing how the light effects the color.

I've told the helpful sales lady that no matter what type of wonderful lighting the store has, I need to compare with nature light because that's what I have at home. But thank you for your help.

I've done that. Picked out a backing fabric and binding fabric looked at it a few days later and said Ewwwww. Went back again and finally found some that worked really well.

I was speaking with a quilting instructor Lanette Edens the other day at a quilting expo and she says you always pick the border fabric first then the center fabrics, that way everything will match up. I have always completed the center then looked for border fabric to match. No wonder I can never find just the right one.

The lighting in stores makes fabric appear different than natural lighting or lighting in the home. Sometimes it will look like it matches well in the store, and when you get it somewhere else, it will look horrible. Don't really know what the solution for that one is!

I do that on just about every quilt I make. That's why I have a stash. It's also rare that I get all fabrics in just one store. When I get home I think a different fabric may work better and off I go to a another store. With the last quilt I made I had enough fabrics I didn't use to make another one....lol

I have done the same thing just 3 weeks ago. What was I thinking.

I've done that but usually happens from a particular store. I later found out that it was the poor lighting in the shop. She moved from a smaller shop to a much bigger store and the lights were very high. Over time ( about 2 years), she's put in a drop ceiling and much better lighting.... big difference.

And if the border is a solid? I buy all my fabric, from different stores, before cutting any of it. I have changed color/fabric placement from original plan on more than one occasion. I am satisfied with what I have when I finally start.

Yep. Went to buy binding fabric. Found a peach that looked really good with the samples I took to the store. A little bright but picked up one of the colors in the print. Bought a little more than I needed and took it home. Hung the quilt on the design wall and tucked my binding behind it so 1/2" showed. OMG!! What was I thinking?!! Totally pulled the eyes away from the quilt - and it's a Memory Quilt! Back to the drawing board. Found a dark blue in my stash that worked perfectly.

Well this isn't the first time I've done this. I really have a much better visual of the colors when I can lay the whole quilt out and lay the fabric in bigger pieces together...See everything together.

I always take the project/fabrics that need an additional fabric with me....that way I don't have to trust my memory! :D :D :D

Yes.
Have gone to the fabric store to purchase a fabric I believe and hope they still have as it is perfect for what I need. Get there and there never ever was such fabric that anyone in the store can recognize by my discriptions and diagrams. Did I just dream it up?!

Most stores will allow you to return fabric unless you've washed it.

I need natural light as well to see if fabrics match.

Yeah, it's called stash building. :lol:

yep -- I did that last month -- I went back to my Fav LQS to get more and just KNEW what I wanted. wrong !!!! I had to go back the next day with a tiny swatch. I have many times taken my quilt into a shop to find border or backing material. Not only was it better for matching, but I had a lot of input for ideas. Sometimes I got something I hadn't even thought of.
Mim

Yep, been there and done that. I know try to take samples of the fabric I need to match with me. I've been known to carry around scraps of fabric in my wallet/checkbook which use to drive my DH crazy.

I've done this as well. Have always been happy with the LQS down the street, except for once. They kept telling me I needed material out of a certain line to go with the rest when I needed more contrast.