If you don't like the sample quilt colors, are you interested in the pattern?
 

I frequently find myself looking at a sample quilt, and if I don't like the fabrics/colors I don't consider the pattern. I have seen some quilts on the board that I dismissed because of the fabrics that look fabulous because the quilter chose fabrics I like better.

Has this happened to you? For those of you who can see past the sample, how do you do it?
Thanks

it's happened to me many times, i just over look the colors. i can't imagine not liking a quilt because i was prejudice of the color. I just look at the bones of the bloc/quilt. That would be like not liking a friend because they had a different skin tone than me. You spend so much time with a quilt, you have to put your colors in the block and make it yours.

If you are unsure if it is the colors or the pattern, take that picture and use Photo viewer or some program to alter the colors. See if you would like it in a different color way.

I had that problem when I first started sewing (pre-quilting years). With sewing, I would try to come up with an idea of what I really wanted to do ahead of time & at first I would trace the outline of the garment from the pattern's package so I could just focus on the shape of the garment, rather than the color or fabric texture.
Now, thanks to technology, I often will pull out my iPhone & look at it through the tonal filter on the camera app so I'm not influenced by color when shopping.

My initial reaction is often based on color. If I like the colors, I'll usually like the quilt and pattern instinctively. I have the opposite reaction if it's in colors I don't care for. In both cases, I then look past the color at the pattern to determine if it's something I might want to make. So my answer is yes for the first pass but that doesn't make the ultimate determination.

I realize what you're saying, but I guess it's how a person's mind works. I never choose a pattern idea by the colors -but I don't know how to tell you how to do this. Bree123 has a good idea, take a picture with a black/white setting (first tell the LQS people or whoever owns the quilt you're looking at why you are taking the picture. With the color eliminated it will force you to focus on the design.

This is how I am. Exactly.

Actually, I usually don't actually take a photo exactly because of copyright. I just look at it through the viewfinder & make my decision that way. Since I'm not actually snapping pictures, so far all the shop owners have been fine with me doing that and I usually don't worry about asking for permission unless it's a store I've never visited or the salesperson seems overly aggressive.
Every so often, though, I do take photos. I sent some to my 3-year old niece once (via my sister) so she could pick out which fabrics she liked best from a selection of my choosing. I had tried live facetiming with her, but the connection was not strong enough so I kept losing her. The shop owner thought it was so sweet she said that even though she normally doesn't allow photos, that she'd make an exception. :o I deleted all my copies of the photos in front of her, but, of course, they always exist in cyberspace so some artists/business people universally prohibit all photography, whether of patterns, fabrics, samples, or whatnot so if you are actually taking photographs -- definitely ask & get permission first! :thumbup:

This describes me, as well.

I realized long ago that it's the colours of something that attracts us. When I used to search for machine embroidery designs, and now quilts, it was always the colours of the designs that caught my eye - at first. Now I can look beyond and imagine what 'I' can do with them