rail fence pattern
 

I am thinking of making a rail fence pattern. What I have read says to use three fabrics, a light, medium, and dark.

I am just starting to look at my stash, but I thought I would ask for opinions. Would three shades of one color look good? I was thinking of purple or blue.

Thanks for any input. I don't do well with fabric selection.

Dina

first of all, No Wrong Way to Quilt!, and then, yeah, i think it would look great...maybe you could find a great print with all three colors in it for one of the borders, look for a tiny contrasting color in the print to add a 'zinger' between border and body... let your heart guide you...if you like them, it will be lovely... just get that contrast in there ...

I find if you put in the quilt pattern you are thinking of making in google and then click on the images, it will bring up so many beautiful pictures, that I'm sure you will find some colour combinations that you like
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=e...BaykiAeuroC3BQ

I did a 3 shades of purple, with a few 3 shades of red thrown in for a Rail Fence I made for a friend.
I can't figure out how to attach a picture to this - sorry.

Thanks, I have been looking at the pictures in our Gallery and that has helped too.

Dina

I think 3 shades of the same color would work great for a rail fence.

I think they only thing would to make sure you have enough contrast between the shades- have fun :)

Dina, I think color selection was a HUGE deal for me! I am a nurse by education..not an art major! My best friend was a pad of graph paper and some colored pencils! When I got some colors I liked, I went stash diving/fabric shopping and auditioned different fabrics. Lay them out..get a design wall (my earliest one was a flannel backed table cloth from the dollar store! ) tack up some and walk by it for a few days. Those fabrics will TELL you which ones to use. No wrong answers...and you WILL learn alot about color..and what YOU like. I have been quilting for YEARS, and still learn something from EVERY quilt I make. The last one I used a fabric that was too busy to my eye. The recipent LOVED LOVED LOVED it...but I was glad it was not in my house anymore! Rail fences in shades of one color are LOVELY...go for it!

Beth, Heather, and Sharon, thank you for your input. I have been playing with fabric from my stash, but I have not come up with the right combination yet. I am going to cut some 2 1/2 inch strips from some and see how they look on my design wall. I hope inspiration comes soon. Patience is not one of my virtues!

Dina

No reason to stop with just 3 colors either.

ali

I made 3 rail fence quilts for my sister's kids using 6 colors of the rainbow, ROYGBV. It was from a book of kids' quilts and was called "Crayons". It was beautiful. You can't go wrong, no matter what colors you choose.

I love quilts done in tones of one color, don't know how they could not be beautiful in any pattern.

Great website! Good luck.

I agree that you do not have to stop at 3 colors. Remember there are no quilt police, so whatever you choose will be great. Keep us updated on your project.

I love your quote, Beth. I was married to a belittler at one time, now married to the later. What a difference it makes.

I like to use 4 colors one dark one light 2 med is is easy to follow the fence with these

I made one for my DS with 4 colors - one white and 3 shades of blue (his favorite color.)

Rail fence
 

I love rail fence pattenr. I have done 3 quilt tops just tone-on-tones. These are pics of 3 quilts that I did and each are diff, but all three are the reds,whites &blues. i have done one with just all blues. My blocks are 6 inches finished size. have fun. My avatar is one of the TOT quilt tops. I have 3 granddaughters, one love purples, one loves pink and one love blues. so thinking of doing each one of them a rail fence scrappy on their colors.

Here is a link someone just posted with the rail fence in blues:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...s-t171885.html

I have done them in different shades of one color and in different colors -- as long as you do consistent color placement in the blocks and you use a light, medium and dark (relative to each other) they seem to turn out fine.

I think all the above are good advice. Just put the fabrics together and if you like them use them!!

That is a fun pattern to use - so many options. 3 colors really look great in using different shades.

I made a rail fence for my father last year as a Christmas gift. I used a light, medium and royal blue flannels. It looks Grrrrreat! I liked the variation on a color theme. Go for it and use that stash! It is your effort so make it pleasing to you.

Anything goes in quilting. If you like it, go for it!

I think three fabrics in the same colorway would be beautiful.

most of the fence rails I have done use 12 fabrics - 2 reds 2 gold and 2 browns for each in 2 different groups if that makes any sense - but whatever you want to do - wil great - no rules !!

I did one that had 5 stripes: dark green, medium to light green, a contrast, medium to light, and dk green going in one direction adn purples going in the other direction with the same contrast. the intensities of the purple and green were matched. It was gorgeous and I almost did not give it away (christmas). also do not have pics. If you can match the intensity of colors for the dark and medium to light, they will literally glow. i think it had something to do with their sites on the color wheel.

The contrast will be more important than the colors. Blue, Red, and Green will look horrible (IMHO) if they are all the same value. A pale blue, medium blue, and dark blue would show much better than 3 mediums in different colors.

Thanks for the pictures and for the helpful advice. Here is what I am playing with. I like it, which is good, as I just abandoned two different quilt tops that I just didn't care for. (Like I said, fabric selection is hard for me.)

Dina

I saw a lovely rail fence quilt once where the maker put the dark color in the center. She did light, dark, medium. It was a great quilt.

Dina,
I am doing a rail fence now and i am using D.brown, tan,and a thin striped, with all 3in it.

A few years ago I made a Rail Fence baby quilt using 2 shades of blue and 1 of yellow. It turned out very nice and was much appreciated by
the mother and baby.

Dian--I made a rail fence earlier this yr. and posted it on here somewhere---wherever the pics are.Mine was red,black and white and I loved it.It was on the front of a magazine(sorry dont know what one)I should say--the pattern was in the magazine--not actually my quilt!!! Have fun!!!

soccertxi,
thanks for your input. I need help with color selections too. I think your suggestions will help.

Dina,
My avatar is a split rail pattern and it has six strips in it. I wanted to make it purple and green, so I used the purple for the dominate/dark color, followed by a batik that had both that purple and greens, then used mediums to very light greens for the remaining strips. It is my understanding that you can use anywhere from two to however many strips you want. It is a very easy pattern, just be sure to lay it out correctly before sewing the blocks together. "Unsewing" is a pain!
Good luck!

3 shades of one color would look very nice as long as they were a light, medium, and a dark. If you do not have a quilting program like EQ, what I used to do was to draw the pattern onto graph paper and use crayola crayons that were similiar and color the pattern. Or try to make a couple of sample blocks first before you strip cut all the fabric.

Thanks again, everyone. I have had the best luck with making a couple of sample blocks before I dive into a whole quilt top. Still, I find I am rarely satisfied with my first, second, or third attempt. Perhaps fabric selection will get easier for me. I am still fairly new....going on two years of quilting, but I have made lots of quilts in that time (32). Many were for friends who selected the fabric. Maybe I just need someone else to select the fabric when it is for me....but then, what fun would that be? :) I often find that when I add two borders, I usually end up liking my end product. I guess I need the borders to tie it all together for me.

Dina