I think I have a very weird method , but it may work for you.
I first seperate lights darks and mediums. Then I toss all of the darks on the floors so they are only a few deep. I toss to one pile all those that just can't blend looking at the pile from about 5 ft away. There will be some that just jump out screamming " Get me out of here" those get tossed in a seperate pile . I do the same for the mediums.
I then have my group to work with. Whats intereseting is the one that will not mix and get tossed out end up being a great group ...typically.
If I am not sure if a fabric is medium or dark I toss it in the next group , it will tell you at the end of the sort if it really belongs there.
I discovered this toss it all on the floor method when some shelves gave way in my sewing room . All the fabric laid in a pile , as I was picking them up I was so surprised what went with what , combinations I never would have put together had they not fallen on the floor.
Once I have piles , I pick my pattern based on quantites in each.

Here is one like StitchinJoy's that just uses oranges and greens. My inspiration was our pumpkin patch. Also a controlled scrappy. I just made sure I always attached a green to an orange and had a nice selection of darks and lights scattered throughout.

[IMG]http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...andgreen-2.jpg[/IMG]

I like matchy, matchy quilts but, I have made scrappy, not too good at that, always try matching. My oldest Daughter has made lots of scrappies and they turn out very pretty.

I recently made a scrappy wallhanging for my living room to add some color. I took about 11 of my favorite fabrics and put them together as randomly as I could. It was fun. Here's a picture.

DebraK, your pumpkin patch quilt is FANTASTIC!!! Controlled scrappy at its finest!

I'm enjoying seeing how others decide on their scrappy.

I guess, before you start decide on a couple rules to live by: like, if you want it warm - what constitutes warm? Red, orange yellow? Or, if you wanna say "no white" you gotta decide what that means for your lights...is it on the yellow side, or is it on the vanilly-tan side?

You could also make a rule of "all HST" or "all churn dash" or "All square-in-a-square" to give you some sense of order, kwim?

I can't wait to see what comes up!

ETA: I'm currently in love with this scrappy, By Izy. SHe has hints and instructions on pg 23...

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-152842-1.htm

there's a myriad of patterns that work well with hst's. and i love scrappy, too. the quilt in your avatar is pretty.

oh yes, I love that one too!



"ETA: I'm currently in love with this scrappy, By Izy. SHe has hints and instructions on pg 23..."

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-152842-1.htm

Betty, did you make your avatar quilt by pairing light and dark half square triangles? It's stunning.

Wow, Debra, that's a pretty Patches n Pinwheels quilt. Good job!

Thank you, Joy. I know you know what a fun pattern this is to do ;-) It works up so fast.