How do you feel about solids?
 

The recent thread about batiks inspired me to ask this. How do you feel about solid fabric in quilts? What about when a quilt is made entirely with solids? Do you find it flat or vibrant?

I find that I'm liking solids on their own more and more. I used to find them bland and boring, but now I find that I'm drawn to them whenever I go to the LQS. I really like how they come in so many shades now, though it means that I want to spend more money to buy all the different colours!

I love solids because quilting shows up better on them. A quilter like Sharon Schamber can transform a solid fabric into something magnificent!

Janet

I have not used solids to make anything, but keep collecting a few along. Like you, I am drawn to all the shades. They are so beautiful it is hard to narrow down my choices most times.

I like solids...especially in a bargello. Now that you mention it, I may try all solids as well. Thanks for the suggestion.

solids are becoming more popular for quiltingmaking with the Modern Quilt Movement.
The Gees Bend kits gave solid a jump start. They can be flat or vibrant depend on how they are used.
I do mix with tube quilts and with rail fence as they give definitation.

Solids are good as an accent piece but I'm drawn to prints, florals, etc.

i have been using solids in quilts since the mid 70's so i guess i like them- there for a while it was pretty difficult to find them- unless you dyed your own-which i did- it is very nice to find some shops are carrying a larger selection of them- instead of just black & white.

The only time I have used solids is for bindings.

I prefer either marbles or tone on tone. I will use a small amount of solids at times, but still prefer more texture in the color. Pure solids in a quilt, as if using only Kona, would not be my preference.

ali

Barn quilts are very popular in Iowa. I mean the kind where they put a large painted block on the side of a farm building. These block are always solid colors. I've seen a quilt that was a take-off on barn quilts, solid colors for piecing, and set with black sashings. I thought it was striking!

I still find too many solids in large pieces make for a flat quilt (bc/ I've seen some minis that are very cute). Maybe it's b/c my quilting isn't good enough show off on a solid background. Maybe it's b/c I love the variations that come from batiks.

I love solids. Like to mix with prints. Like solid borders also.

Not tipically a fan of solids, prefering a tone on tone. Maybe because there was a time when 100 percent cottons were very hard to find in anything other than a slim selection of calico's and some solids. I made my share of quilts with solids and just am too facinated with the HUGE selection of prints that seem to get even better every year.

I think I own one set of solid FQs. Everything else is tone on tone or prints. (muslin excluded). Obviously I am not a big fan.

I LOVE solids, especially black. I think it's because I love Amish type quilts so much.

I use solids all the time....either in a bargello where I want no print or very little....or in regular quilt blocks where I want one piece of the block to stand out.....I really am not a fan of large prints, it seems that you need a large block of print by itself in order for it to look good....but that is just me

Using a small amount of a color saturated solid can really make a quilt pop. Think they can look especially good in a narrow border. When nothing else seems to work, try a solid

I'm liking solids more than I ever had before. I am starting to add them into quilts but I just LOVE them as backings. It shows the quilting so well and looks like a wholecloth on one side.

Amish quilts are all solids, and the vibrancy is due to the color interplay.

I prefer tonals but have used some solid in applique

I really like solids. I am trying to branch out, but it isn't easy. :)

Dina

I like to have at least one solid or a tonal in my quilts. I did not have enough of them for a while. Kona Cottons for plains our my favorite.

I don't care for solids for myself, but I am a piecer and not a very good quilter. Tone on tone is good for me, but some of the quilting done on solids by others is absolutely amazing.

I do't use many solids -- I prefer tone on tone.

Check the book "City Quilts" by Cherry House. She uses all solids with a modern look and her quilts are fabulous. Also books by a woman named Weeks and her husband Bill (I can't remember last names or the book title, but it is something modern). It gives you a new appreciation for solids.

I have used solids a lot and I really like them.

Yes I love solids, the problem has been getting them in enough colors besides the basics. I have notice more shades lately and have been stocking up. I usually use solids with prints, I like the interest it adds.

Like you, I am becoming more and more attracted to solids. I'm starting to get a collection of Kona cotton solids. There is a quilt in a book I have by Alex Anderson (I liked it so much I bought the pattern) which looks like all colors of candy in twister ends wrappers--the quilt is adorable and it took a minute or two for me to realize the entire quilt is done in solids.

I only use solids for my quilt tops...I do wholecloths. And I must confess I can't get enough from all the wonderful colors. The hand quilting stands out perfectly and nothing distracts your eyes from it.I also love the traditional Amish quilts: they look so clear and simple, but also vibrant. Just great.

Unfortunately it seems to be impossible to find the quality of solids I want to purchase here in Germany. Kona Cotton is available but I don't like them very much for my purposes. I am looking for a fabric with a higher thread count around 75 in each direction like the P&B fabrics had. But I don't find them here anymore.

I hadn't thought of this before I read it recently, but solids are timeless. They can look modern with the brighter colors, or more traditional with pastels. Amish quilts often have such saturated colors that they look vibrant and alive. Printed fabrics can look dated over time. I wasn't interested in quilting for a long time because of all the calicoes used. They looked dull and uninteresting to me.

I love solids in quilts, it gives you more to work with in patterns and a place to rest your eye on the quilt top. Making it easier to see and enjoy the quilt. They were use a lot in old quilts.

I have had two dark (black and navy) solids pick up EVERY fuzzy thing known to man. These were both used in gift quilts and I ended up giving a lint roller with each of them. I DO like the colors, but tend to lean toward tone on tone. I like that they 'read' solid and you can see the quilting, but they don't show everything. As usual, this is a personal preference.

I'm with you. I love the Amish quilt look.

I never use a solid if I can find a tonal that suits me.

Not easy to paint patterns!

I use fabric much as a painter uses oils and want the overall design to be the primary focus, not just one individual part of it. Because I'm not looking for pattern in fabric, only color, solids, blenders, hand dyes, tonal batiks and TOTs are pretty much all I ever use.

I love solids. Years ago, when my mom and were taking our first quilt classes, in the late 70's, we took a class making I think its called Around the World. The instructor gave us a list of colors to purchase, all solid. We purchased separately and at different places, as did the other attendees. The variety of interpretation of say light green or turquoise was astounding and began my love of solids. My go-to box for that little splash of color or contrast is filled with only solids, most from other quilts I have made in solids.

I'm with AliKat. The only solid I have used was in a kit and was used to make a checkerboard design.

I love solids, they make prints when you them stand out even more, and off the top of my head I have at least 15 quilts here at home that are made with all solids. I just got a whole stack of solids at Handcocks of Paducah, as mine were getting depleated. I love Amish quilts, and the use of solids really shows the pattern and the hand quilting off great.

I had a stack of solid colored vibrant 5" squares last year and saw a pattern I wanted to make. They were lap quilts but after finishing the first one, I still had a stack of squares so made HST patterns like the zigzag....then because there were still squares I made a D9P and then a D4P.....on and on. I ended up with 6 in the series, one more vibrant than the other. When I showed my quilts, at my guild meeting....I told them how I started with one and just couldn't stop......I love, love solid fabric as long as the colors are bright.....like the 8 pack of crayola crayons!