Last Minute Fabric Switch
 

I was just wondering if anyone else takes the time to pick out fabric at their local shop and then changes their mind when they get it home?

Yesterday, I picked out a few fabrics for a Christmas table runner. Today, when I was looking at them, there was just something that I didn't like, so I replaced two with some from my stash (very meager, beginner-quilter stash). But when I was done, I had a combination that I liked a whole lot better. Is this just because I am new at this, or do some of you do the same thing?

Good for you !!

Makes sense to me to change if it will look better!

Oh, I don't think it's unusual to change things as you move along. Just have fun with it! It's yours so you can do what pleases you the most! :)

Sometimes when we take the time outside the LQS to look again we see things we missed in the shop. The shop has so much that can overwhem us. I know I have a quilt I wish I had taken a second look at the colors.

You did the right thing because you would not have been pleased with the final product

Let the creative juice flow. Ideas just pop up when you least expect it. Sometimes fabrics you think will work in the store just doesn't come out like you think it will.

Yup, I've done that. My stash is large enough that I can't remember all of it, especially not the details. So sometimes I buy something only to find I had a better match already. Heck ... sometimes I buy something only to find I already HAD the SAME something!

Yep, done that! Sometimes I get two at the store and go home and decide too!

I agree with rufree4t. I definitely get overwhelmed with all the choices. And I make mistakes on color if I'm looking for colors outside my comfort zone. It's good to go with something your really happy with. It's your opinion that really matters.

To me the lighting is different at LQS than at home or I have had a little more time to think things over but I will change or even add fabric as I go along. A quilt takes on a life of it's own I have even made changes after I have started making a quilt. In the end I just want to be happy with my project.

This happens to all of us (smile). Nice that you had a small stash that allowed you to complete a project you liked. Looking forward to seeing pics of your finished projects with the "switched" fabric (smile).

I frequently have a change to a fabric selection... Thats how my stash got so big. The LQS near me has terrible lighting... so if its not a nice bright day outside to double check the colors... I can end up with a no so great choice . When I make a bargello that has over 18 or so fabrics I always buy 20 ... as I will get home study them for a few days .. repositioning ... and a few just don't make the final cut..
Most shops will take back cut goods. Many have a policy it has to be over 1 yard.

LOL, I do that all the time.

The ONLY time fabric is assured a place in my quilt is when it has been placed, stitched, loved on and given away! Anything else is subject to change...giggle!

Yep - I do that a lot. Probably more than my DH would like, but it makes my stash happy... Eventually the fabric will find a use. I have found in my limited time quilting, that if a fabric combination is not singing with me, then I have a harder time finishing the project.

Cheers, K

YES! That happens to me alllll the time! At least I'm consistent with what I like?!

I actually do it rather frequently. I'm famous for picking out border fabric for quilts when I buy the block fabrics and then changing my mind. Therefore, I have a respectable stash of 3 yard border fabrics.

all the time.............................................. ................

I agree sometimes it's all about the lighting!

My mood or different lighting, can easily make me change my mind :) :) :)

I once changed my idea for fabrics 5 times! On a couple of elements, I changed the fabric more than once. Your stash sure gets bigger that way. On the quilt I am working on right now, I have changed my fabrics a couple of times, already. The fabric I really want to do away with is the one I have to keep. It is the challenge fabric in a guild contest. It is hideous. No lie.

Yep, all the time. It's an ongoing process with me.

It drives my DD crazy sometimes when she's with me at the store because I even do it there. I may have the whole quilt palette set up and then just before cutting have to rework it, which means that sometimes I have enough fabric to almost make two quilts! Then I may change something again when I get home and check my stash - just in case. LOL

Not a bad thing if you have something in your stash to use. I, on the other hand, wish that I had purchased a different (or more of) piece after I get home. Your way is the preferred way.

Thanks for all of the input ladies. I'm going to blame it on the lighting at the LQS ... hehe. I am working on so many things at once, that nothing is getting completed. One of these days I will post some pictures. I HAVE to get everything done by Christmas.

All the time. This is why I need a bigger storage closet.

I have fabric in my stash to prove I change my mind.

Oh I do this ALL the time! Actually if I end up using JUST the fabrics I purchased for a project and DON"T change anything? That is the exception rather than the rule! I just NAME the process and call it 'auditioning'. Just because I BOUGHT it for that project, does not mean it will make the final cut! I'm just so ruthless...hehehehehehe

Welcome from a fellow quilter on the west side of the Valley of the Sun! I'm in Glendale (near the football stadium!).

I've done that before. I get ity home, then it just doesn't look like I thought it would

I'm new and I ALWAYS* putter around and change my mind until I'm happy. For me, the fabric choice is the first thing someone will see and either enjoy looking at or not. Why go to all the toruble of doing a quilt with something which is ho-hum, or a little off, or just not good enough?

*EXCEPT ONCE ...the one time I didn't was an open class I just took where it was weekly, and you had to buy the fabric from the LQS giving the class. So I had a great pattern - Hyacinths by Clothworks but I wanted to do it in teals and peach for my sister in law, and the owner - a fabric-choosing expert - helped my pull together six colors and choose where they went. No fault to her, as she did the best with what she had, but as I started to assemble the HST and Flying Geese and put them together, my heart sunk. I showed it to the owner and she agreed one of the fabrics didn't work and she told me I could supplement that fabric from another LQS. I went right on line, grabbed matching fabric (Martinique by 3 sisters) and took apart the bad blocks, recut new fabric, snuck in a couple more complementary fabrics, and now it is much better. I've done most of the quilting and I'll give it to my sister in law for Christmas. BUT I am still not satisfied.