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Great question and some wonderful suggestions. I have taken a couple of workshops on this as I struggle with it too. I am not one that shops a line of fabric so I am often putting together from stash etc. One thing I have learned is that you also have to pay attention to the "value" of the fabric to get the contrast and pop that you see in patterns. So I got one of those red filters to help when selecting. You can also take a photo and change it to a gray scale to see if you have the variety in value needed for the pattern to show.
Try to practice and go online for some other ideas. I think Craftsy has a class on color also. |
Originally Posted by Snooze2978
(Post 7085061)
I'm fortunate to have a decent stash to pick from so once I decide on the colors I start pulling fabrics off the shelf. Then I line them up on the cutting table in the order I think I want them and leave them there for a couple days or more. I'll walk past the table and stop to look at them to see if I still like them as they are or move them around or even add/subtract from the pile.
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Thanks for the web site links some good stuff there.
See you are all one up on me you have your stashes to pick from. If you have to much you could give it to me LOL Going to go shopping Wed and see they have. I saw one nice quilt I would like to make. But some of the fabrics colors I only need like 2 pieces. Thats where a stash is going to be good. Or i have been thinking maybe buy a couple of the precut assortment packs and just get more and over time i,ll have a stash also.. Thanks for the help Tom |
To look at fabric on line..... go to quiltshops.com..... there are over 200 quilt shops there, you can look at fabric to your hearts content!
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If you like a particular designer and you choose fabrics that they create for various manufacturers...you can be somewhat assured that the color pallet that they use can be safely combined with most all the designs they create as to color. That does not take into consideration scale or pattern, but they too are human and tend to work within their color comfort zone. There are obvious exceptions and some designers are far more inventive but I still see a color commonality even when it appears they have veered off their more predictable design path. This seems to work for me: when you lay out your colors/patterns, if you squint your eyes so as to blur your vision and look at your choices...if one "pops" out as distracting...unless you are committed to its use...consider its removal and proceed. I see some people suggest using a door "peephole" for a similar purpose. Color is something that can drive people to distraction, but the first thing to remember is this craft is for your enjoyment and if you like it...use it, obviously within reason. However, if you are still uncertain there are free color classes on Craftsy from time to time, likely tutorials on the internet and then advice from others. It has also been pointed out to me, more than once, that men often think outside the box and that my color choices were daring, but not poorly chosen. Take what you pick to a person whose color sense and design combinations you admire, do it a couple of times and if they find what you do to be close to "spot on" then stop doubting yourself, build your stash like almost everyone and enjoy!
Hint: I also learned that the temptaton to buy a lot of fat quarters should be rethought and buying a third of a yard is the more economical way to buy most cut yardage...obviously "sales" excluded. |
I don't worry about it. I use fabrics that I personally like together. I don't care if others do not like my fabric choices. What ever I feel is right, is right for me.
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When I first started quilting I looked for a picture or a quilt pattern that I liked "as is" and then Found fabrics very similar to the picture. As I got more experience and felt more comfortable with my own ideas, I did what ManiacQuilter suggested--find a focus fabric first, then look for others that coordinate. A focus fabric is your 'primary' fabric that you pick first, the one you want to be the center of attention or has most of the colors in it that you like---usually the largest print. Then start auditioning coordinating fabrics with some of the same colors or hues of your focus fabric, but with contrasting smaller prints, stripes or solids. You will get better with practice. Sometimes you learn by making some really ugly quilts---I did!!!
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In a workshop I teach on choosing colors for quilts, one technique I use is to find a picture/photograph of something that appeals to you....a garden, a landscape, a designed room, sunsets, even an advertisement. Pull fabrics that seem to match or blend with colors in that picture as your inspiration.
For example, I once saw this picture of native women selling fruit and fell in love with the bright happy colors. I designed some blocks then pulled fabrics that picked up on the same feel as the picture. Here is the result of a couple of them. Can you see which parts of the picture influenced the color choices in the blocks?:) Jan in VA |
Choose a print you love Then choose coordinating fabrics from that. On salvage edges there are generally a row of colored circles. Those circles are every color used in that print. If you choose fabrics that match those ( color chips) they will coordinate with your print. Download and print ( or purchase) a color wheel and become familiar with it, learn coordinate and contrast ( contrast in a quilt gives it the Spark that often makes it spectacular. ( like orange with purple - opposites on the color wheel)
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Thanks
I really like the idea of looking at a picture .
Originally Posted by Jan in VA
(Post 7085569)
In a workshop I teach on choosing colors for quilts, one technique I use is to find a picture/photograph of something that appeals to you....a garden, a landscape, a designed room, sunsets, even an advertisement. Pull fabrics that seem to match or blend with colors in that picture as your inspiration.
For example, I once saw this picture of native women selling fruit and fell in love with the bright happy colors. I designed some blocks then pulled fabrics that picked up on the same feel as the picture. Here is the result of a couple of them. Can you see which parts of the picture influenced the color choices in the blocks?:) Jan in VA |
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