Is it me?
 

I spend forever trying to find fabric. Nothing jumps out at me. I spent an hour yesterday trying to pick 4 fabrics for a candle mat.

Is it me? or should I try a different quilt shop?

Maybe I should read up on choosing fabrics?

If I get fabric blocked, I decide on a main color and then select a dark fabric, a med fabric, and light fabric and add to the each pile until I have enough to make my project.

I have trouble finding fabrics that work together too. I think we just need to do some research. There is a color chart that shows which colors compliment each other. Have you tried looking at a color wheel?

Sometimes the amount of fabric to chose from can be overwhelming!
Try finding a picture of anything in which you like the colors, then use that for inspiration.
Or pick one color and go to "google images" to search for quilts in that color. The pictures will show many, many quilts using that color with others.

Sometimes I just put a few little things together and make a pillow or some small project to break the log jam. I can get too caught up in getting right and then I don't get anything done.

You didn't mention where you were looking for fabric, but if it was at a big box retailer, you won't get much help or direction there. Instead, tap the resources at your local quilt shop; most employees are experienced quilters and would love to guide you in your fabric search. Before too long, you'll be the pro!

If you are lucky enough to have several LQSs in your area, get to know what styles of fabric they specialize in. Some shops have a lot of civil war and 30's fabrics; others, tons of batiks and Asian prints; still others, modern fabrics. I have also found that sometimes, especially if you are using solids, you have to go to several shops to find enough varying shades of certain colors. The LQS employees can be very helpful. I find that they will often find the perfect fabric that I would have overlooked because it didn't appeal to me. I have also learned that if you can't seem to find what you are happy with, just leave and try another shop or another day.

We have a LQS in San Diego that has 10,000 bolts - it is very hard for me to find a focus fabric there because I find so much. But once I have my main fabric I can go there for fabric to go with it. Maybe you should sit and look through a few websites and see if something suits you first.

I use pre-cuts or buy a fat quarter bundle from any online shop - takes a lot of guess work away and I always love the end result.

I sometimes have to shop several places to get all the colors I need. I usually find fabric and go looking for a pattern but if I have a pattern and am not sure of my color choices I draw out several and color them in until I find the color combinations I like then I go fabric shopping.

Color wheels and charts are good, but sometimes it's hard to get the inspiration to put different colors together. When I am in a color funk, I like to go to FatQuarterShop.com and look at the pictures of the fat quarter bundles that they put together. On the left, click on "fat quarter bundles." You will see pics like these:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]474794[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]474795[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]474796[/ATTACH]

They give me a lot of inspiration and there are tons of different color combinations. I usually do a "View All' and just scroll down the page of all of them. Something usually jumps out at me... :thumbup:

From that, then I can go to my stash and start putting things together.

Thanks for the suggestions. It sorta sounds like I am not the only one that spends too much time picking fabric!

It doesnt come naturally to me and probably never will..

I have trouble with clothing also.

:-)

I just spend hours looking online at fabrics, trying to get the right mix. It can be frustrating as sometimes the color hues don't seem to match what I see on my computer monitor when it comes in. But if you don't have any large shops locally I don't know what else to do. Unfortunately I am building a stash of "not quite right" fabrics for current projects, but hopefully they will find a home in a future one !

I guess that is why I like to subscribe to magazines. I like to see the color combinations they come up with. I also hang out at the LQS to see what people are putting together. I will often ask what they are working on and they show me the fabrics they have already picked out and what they are considering and why. It always helps to have dark, medium and light fabrics. It also works to have a large print, a medium print, a small print and maybe a solid. I've heard it said that color gets the credit when value does the work.

I love picking out fabric, but my local quilt shop is small. In addition, the owner's taste is very different from mine. If I find something I like there often I can't find anything I like to go with it. She can only afford to buy several of the fabrics out of a new collection. Her selection of solids is pretty limited too. I'm happier shopping online, much as I would love to give her my business.

I know that feeling, not even just the colours but the fabric patterns together, I have turned out some horrors!

I am a project vs stash shopper. I will normally pick my focus fabric first and then pull from that what other colors/fabrics I want. I usually have a photo of the project with me. Once I've gathered what I think I want, I try to lay them out with the appropriate percentage of the bolt peeking out from the others in the order of most to least.

Can be a tedious process but it's what works for me. Sometimes the focus fabric changes either along the way or even at the end. BUT by then I've at least gotten the bulk of the fabrics I want for that project. Might have to shift which one is getting used for what part of the project or trade something out but the bulk of it is there.

I have found that certain shops do not compliment my tastes. I rarely shop in them. Occasionally I can find something I am looking for. I can almost always find what I need at my LQS. Recently, I was looking for a very dark blue batik for a background, and couldn't find it anywhere, even on line. I finally found it at a nearby shop, that usually isn't my favorite shop. You just never know where you will find what you need.
Sue

Terri's right! A good quilt shop will have employees who know what they're doing, and can guide you. A few tips and tricks and you'll be off and running! Good luck!

The free Craftsy Block of the Month 2014 class is a color theory class. You don't have to make the blocks or quilt just listen to the monthly sessions. Lots of really good information for those who want some color and fabric instruction.

I know what your saying! Here is my tip... Choose fabrics that are part of a collection, takes the guess work out of it. Clothes... I choose what the mannequin is wearing.

If I'm having trouble picking colors for a quilt will ask the ladies at our LQS for assistance. Once they start helping I will usually find fabric that I like on my own. Sometimes it just takes that extra push to send me in the right direction.

Ha Ha Ha

Tulip----I mannequin shop also!

I'm going to check out the Craftsy class.

For years I made "idea books", just a three ring binder of things I cut out from magazines because I liked the project or the color combination or the pattern. If it was a full page I put it in a plastic page protector and if it was a small cut out I glued it to one of those page protectors with the sheet of black paper inside.I have boxes full of printouts from the computer of quilts and crafts that I like. May be for just the colors, the patterns, the shapes, etc. No one but me would probably get it, but it really has helped me to know how to mix colors and patterns.

This is why i have turned to kits and bundles. My LQS puts together thing I would never think to do but they work. I find quilt shop owners/employees very helpful if I get stuck with a project.

Why don't you ask someone to help you ? I know at our quilt stores they are only too glad to help you. I do not expect that kind of help from Joann's or Hobby Lobby though.

At Joann's, I find that other shoppers are the best for help, including color opinions. I must have a friendly face because it's rare that I'm NOT asked a question when I'm there, and I've gotten helpful hints there from other customers too.

I love picking out fabrics and colors, either I'm just not picky or I have an eye for it because I rarely have trouble coming up with a color palate. My trouble is picking between so many options! But I really like a ton of colors - when it comes to quilts there is no color that's off the table for me.

I have taken some art classes, though - none specifically about color, but enough that I've studied basic color combinations and painted out my own color wheel using only primary colors that I had to mix myself. I keep thinking it'd be a lot of fun to make a scrappy color wheel out of fabric for my sewing room but I haven't gotten around to it.

I have a problem narrowing down choices sometimes too. Remember, this is not the last project you will make. There's not a lot of fabric involved in candle mats, so if they are not your absolute favorite of the whole world, no biggie. So just pick something and get sewing. Sooner or later, you'll run into fabric that you might like and / or would work better, but at least you won't have wasted all that time trying to find the "perfect" fabrics. Ask me how I know ! Haha!

I think every LQS has a personality-depending on the owner or the person responsible for stocking the store. As an example we went to two stores on Tuesday-celebrating my birthday. In one store I really connected with the atmospnere and found several things I wanted and purchases 1/2 yard or one yard of each because I know they will just fit in. In the other store the selection was very good and I am sure well coordinated but it was just not my thing and I left without purchasing anything. So, if you can go to other stores or look on line. When I look online I frequently shop by designer name because I have used other things from them and enjoyed them.

I have found that choosing fabrics in a large shop becomes less overwhelming after you do it a few times. At first, it can be sensory overload. But even in a large shop, what usually happens to me is that I fall in love with a certain fabric but have no idea what the rest of the line looks like because things are arranged by what the person putting away the bolts thinks is the dominant color. That's when I end up online. I should learn to bring my ipad to the store in the first place.

I always work from one fabric, though. Usually it's something I bought yardage of because I loved it but stored it in the stash, awaiting an idea.

hugs,
Charlotte

I have a hard time deciding on fabrics if it is a project I really don't want to start. If just blocked, I will go to my closet and pull out a favorite article of printed clothing and look at those color combos - often is will help unblock my clog!

I learned in design classes that the human eye i drawn to odd numbered items, so I choose a conversation fabric, then pull blender and complementary fabrics from the original choice. I have plenty of UFOs to keep me busy when I am blocked about a project.

Crafts has a free class bom on color choices very good.

I mean Craftsy.

I don't really know how to this. But crafts has a free bom showing color theory.

What good advice, Jan. It will be very helpful the next trip I take to my LQS. I feel like a kid in a candy store when I go into the shop and see all that eye candy........so hard to make a decision.

I pick a busy print and pull my colors from that, it works every time. Makes a nice looking quilt. I keep having to add words because it keeps telling me my message is too short. grrr

Maybe you just like fondling fabrics, it's OK. When the right fabrics do come along they will jump out at you, but it doesn't happen every time you go shopping. So enjoy the process and fondle away!