I would like to do a quick and easy quilt and thought of Turning Twenty. I looked at pictures here and on Webshots and found a number of Turning Twenty quilts I liked. The pieces are big, but the key is fabric and color selection, which is where I don't do well. I know that there are several ways to do this: pick a 20 piece fat quarter bundle from a collection, pick a theme, focus fabric, or color scheme and go from there. I looked on line for 20 piece bundles. There were a few, but I didn't like the color. Most of the packs were of 5, 6, or 9 pieces, which if I bought several would mean a lot of repeats. Another idea is to buy 5 -1 yard pieces of a collection or scheme, which would give 20 fat quarters, but still a number of repeats. For those who have done this pattern, what do you think of it. how do you pick fabric, what do you think of fewer fabrics, more repeats?

You could use just three fabrics. The more you uses the scrapper it gets It really doesn't matter how many you use. It's a personal thing. Use your scrap box. It's just a new way of selling fat quarters.

What colors are you looking for? I made this one http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-19936-1.htm from a kit I purchased here. http://www.christaquilts.com/index.p...=index&cPath=3

I see she no longer has this colorway but there are some other choices. Also check out the fat quarter bundles, there may be something there you like. And no, I'm not affiliated with this shop. :-D

I don't think 5 colors would be enough for this quilt, you'd end up with really large areas of the same color. If you have a hard time choosing fabrics, I think the best bet would be to buy a collection of 20 fq's from one line. That way you know they will play nicely together.

For the Turning Twenty pattern I think the 20-piece fat quarter is really the best. It is probably more expensive than buying fabric by the yard, however, if you are putting lots of time into making a quilt you want it to be pleasing to you. So what is pleasing to you, more colors? It surely is a personal thing. Using your scrap box is a good way to use them and more economical, but not as much fun as going shopping for more. I have a quilt shop that has 20-piece bundles already put together so I can look and feel them before I decide to buy. Good luck with your decision.

TS, Yours was one of the Turning quilts I really liked. Also there was a homespun Turning Twenty posted recently. It was lovely.

You can always mix a bundle with some blenders. There are some really pretty tone on tone fabrics that come in many colors. If you found a FQ bundle you liked, you can look for some blenders to match (check out Fusions by Kaufman). Don't be afraid to mix collections! I've only made one quilt with only one collection. I like to mix it up.

I like to pick out my own fabrics. One of the ones I made I did it in Blues and Yellows. I had several fabrics that had both the blue and yellow in them and then several each that read blue or yellow (tone on tones, blenders etc) I think it came out looking really nice.
My recommendation is pick out 2 or 3 colors that you want in your quilt and find a couple fabrics that have all the colors in it or at least two of the colors and then varying shades of your colors to blend with it.

I'm no help picking colors. I spend hours trying to figure what would work well.

Thanks for the suggestions. I was wondering about blenders and I really like Fusions.
That is a lovely blue and yellow quilt. I did think of choosing a focus fabric or a few coordinated colors and going from there. but I have done that in the past for a couple of quilts and after the blocks were made, really did not like my color choices.

Little Hud, I'm with you on that one, and after I spend hours and make a few blocks, I don't always like what I pick. It could be that I need to put it away for a while and then look at the blocks again. It might look better.

Do you have a color wheel? Once you pick the "Definitely this it the one I'm gonna use" fabric, it is the baseline for the decision.

If you want "blendy" like you indicated, then you have two choices:
1. You can choose fabrics in different values/patterns of the same color.
2. You can choose fabrics that are on either side of that color on the wheel.

You could go for contrast by going opposite on the color wheel and pick from each of the two colors to make up your selection.

There is also a triad where you split the difference on the color wheel and pick a total of three colors.

Hope that helps.

Here is mine. I didn't use twenty at all. I like the results.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-32921-1.htm

Looks great in the blues and yellows!

KWhite your quilt is great. It looks like yours and the blue and yellow one are not the basic Turning Twenty. Are they newer versions?

Here is my Christmas Turning Twenty, I used 12 fat quarters and did a 3x4 setting.

I love that quilt. I love Christmas fabrics. I know that I can use less fat quarters and make a little smaller quilt. I think 12 fat quarters are easier to find than 20.

They're "Turning Twenty Again"s. I made one as well, in cowboy type prints, I'll try to get a picture up of it tonight. Will be making another soon, except it'll be a turning thirty again!

Here's the picture of my TTA, and the F4s for my next one in greens and blues with some purples and creams - an example of fabrics that will work together without matching... just in the same color family with a few that'll pop it.

Here's the one I made - I used 20 fabrics from my stash. I used several large prints and pulled colors from those that matched.

Here is our TT. It is king size and I think we used 30 FQ. We just collected fabrics that complemented one another, then we started cutting. I think as long as there is continuity in your fabrics you can't go wrong with this pattern.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-15755-1.htm#266191

Darren

Darren;

Love the blue and green one. Is that the king sized one? A SIL wants one done in reds for her that's why I'm asking. Thanks and both quilts were lovely.

Chris

It's a fun pattern.

Thank you for your pictures. The quilts are lovely and also give me ideas for mine which is what I was looking for.

beautiful quilt

That Christmas Quilt is beautiful - the other as well of course..but the Christmas one I just love!

I think the one I did in the blue and yellow is the Turning Twenty Again pattern

Chris -

It is a king size; however, if we were making another one for the bed we would use a 7 x 6 layout instead of the 6 x 5 that we used. It has enough drape to use, but we would prefer a little more to give room for movement and turning in bed. Also there is enough length to secure it under the mattress, but we would prefer some length to fold over at the top and pull up to the face while sleeping.

This is a great bed quilt because it goes together really fast and you can give it a great look by using more or fewer fabrics depending on your preference.

Darren

Darren

Thanks for your reply and your insight into making another quilt. I just have to work on getting the reds together and some other fabrics that will play nicely with the reds. I also need prioritize my "to do" list and put her quilt on there. :)

I've had fun chosing random FQs at my LQS when they have Fat Quarter Friday (where you buy 4 FQs and get a 5th one free). I have also seen collections in Connecting Threads where fat quarter samplers are offered for a reasonable price. Depending on the collection, there can be as few as 15 or as many as 32 pieces. For instance, their Aqua Terra collection has 20 pieces; the Bed and Breakfast sampler has 28; the new Sip of Summer collection has 24 pieces in its sampler. I have the newest CT catalog in hand, but if you don't have that, go to their website, www.ConnectingThreads.com and you can see all of what is offered.

I agree...5 colors really isn't enough for a TT quilt. When I did my first TT, I did that and ended up with large areas of red, which is okay, but I would have liked it to look a little more scrappy. I have flannel FQs for my nephew's quilt, and there are 5 FQs that are the same...the rest are all random.

I have done a couple of Turning 20 lap quilts and I purchase 1/2 yd. fabrics. By doing that I only need to select 1/2 the number of fabrics . The attached photo is a monochromatic brown and white lap quilt I did for my niece. I know some of the blocks look rather grey/taupe, but they are really brown.

I have made a couple of turning 20 lap quilts. I double the amount of every fabric I choose (purchase 1/2 yrds instead of fat quarters) therefore simplifying my fabric selection.

My first TT was for my G-daughter. She picked a busy print, from there we choose other solids, prints anything that had similar colors to the first fabric. She loves her quilt. Will try to post picture.
My second TT is black and white. I will try to post a picture in a couple of days. Only have the binding to complete. This one is a wedding gift for my niece.

My first Turning Twenty was exactly like the pattern, well blended materials. My second one was from half yard pieces semi matching the colors. From then on I used my fabric scraps, no matter what color. So far from scraps I have made 3 Turning Twenty and they are all gorgeous. Don't let matching colors intimate you. A Turning Twenty looks great scrappy

One way to match colors is to find a print you like the color combination of and use it as a guide. The print you use as a guide does not have to be one you use, it is just for the colors. Check for the color circles on the selvedge. You can use those to choose coordinating fabric. To get as many fabrics as you want to use choose colors of different value of the dots shown (or in the print if not dots.) I fell in love with a fabric for my granddaughter, used the dots for my coordinating colors, then ended up not using the original fabric.

Oh, how blonde I feel... I didn't know that's what the dots were! I figured they were random... or something...

We've all been there. When I first started buying fabric, I didn't know what they were until DH gently pointed out that those were the colors in the fabric. This happened b/c I was wondering why some fabrics had more dots than others. :)