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-   -   What Color Fabric is Hardest To Find? (https://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1/what-color-fabric-hardest-find-t75956.html)

Julianna 11-13-2010 11:13 AM

For me the most difficult color to find has always been (for over 50 years!) pale yellow. I can find golden yellow, bright yellow, greenish yellow, orangey yellow, but not butter yellow. The clerks look at me strangely when I ask for it.

Scissor Queen 11-13-2010 11:25 AM

Peach, pale yellow, true reds and light reds are all shades I've had trouble finding.

kwiltkrazy 11-13-2010 12:27 PM

I needed a medium wine for the quilt I wanted to make, but I never found it so I had to change my quilting palette.

tweetee 11-13-2010 12:58 PM

Here in Australia, i find it hard to get any colours that resemble rust (like fall colours) Yellows and oranges. Moest common here are blues and greens, can always get that if you want it.

Butterflyblue 11-13-2010 01:01 PM


Originally Posted by katiebear1
I have been looking for peach. All I find is either too yellow or too prange or too pink

I wanted peach for a quilt for my grandmother, and it was VERY hard to find anything. I ended up using a cotton/poly that was close to the shade I wanted, and a flannel for the back that was just a little too orange.

zennia 11-13-2010 01:24 PM

Around here gray is almost impossible to find. needed it 2 different times and couldnt find.

janb 11-13-2010 04:00 PM


Originally Posted by ginnyk
Light red that doesn't look pink. I did learn the trick to try the back of some fabrics if working with a large number of graduated colors. Sometimes you can luck out.

great idea

jan22 11-13-2010 04:25 PM

I have a terrible time with yellows. Not enough varieties out there. All I find is light or dark, nothing in between.

AliKat 11-13-2010 04:58 PM

Somehow it seems the hardest color to find is the particular one I want for a specific project.

I find all the colors I want when I don't need them.

sigh.

ali

seasaw2mch 11-13-2010 06:37 PM


Originally Posted by Mousie
I'm not picky, I just care a lot, lol! :XD:

LOL me either and when I want a certain color I don't settle for nothing but that color or I end up not liking the whole quilt no matter how nice it turns out.

marlene tarzwell 11-13-2010 07:13 PM


Originally Posted by justme2
After looking in 2-3 places, I can usually find the shade of whatever color I need.
Last wk I was stumped trying to find rose color yardage.The stores have pale pink,hot pink,reddish pink ,a purple pink....but no rose.
Was afraid to trust colors on line & finally bought the 2yds I needed. It's close, but still not the perfect rose. :roll: :roll:

Check and ask at Mary Jo's in Gastonia,Nc. She has a site that you can ask about any color,etc. and they will answer back. They ship too. This place is huge and has everything. It is the place I find anything and everything. Mary Jo is always there too. She has pix too, on her site. It is dangerous for me when I go. You need to see it. ENJOY!!

ajonkarl 11-13-2010 07:56 PM


Originally Posted by zennia
Around here gray is almost impossible to find. needed it 2 different times and couldnt find.

I'm looking for greys too and there just isn't a lot to be found. Lots of black and whites that look grey but not actual greys. Trying to find online is hard. You get blue or green that look grey in the photo.

purplefiend 11-13-2010 08:03 PM

I wanted to make a quilt with butter yellow for the background of some of the blocks and I couldn't find any at
all! This was in the early 90s when I was a new quilter.

Theresa 11-13-2010 08:23 PM


Originally Posted by Sadiemae
For awhile I could find a lot of purple, but right now it is hard to find.

Was at Fabric Depot today and the salesclerk told us that purple is the most popular color in Oregon. We decided it must be because we have so many gray days. So, we have all the bolts here! :-)

Judie 11-13-2010 08:37 PM

I have a big stash and yet there are some colors I still need... I like true colors that are deeply saturated.. I had a rust I loved, used it all and now can't seem to find anything even near... Colors do come in and go out depending on the style of the times... I have been going through my deceased MIL's fabric.. oh the browns she has.. which are now coming to my house. a very sad way to round out a stash.

Flying_V_Goddess 11-13-2010 09:38 PM

For my current project it took me forever to find the right shade of grey for my borders.

Usually I have trouble finding something in the right color AND style. For example, there's a few Japanese style prints...something with sprays of cherry blossoms, but I can never seem to find something in black with the pink cherry blossoms. Most stuff I've seen have backgrounds in pink or some sort of pastel. I think when I was working on my Zelda quilted stained glass project (before I lost all the friggin files and now have to start over) I had trouble finding marbled or watercolor fabrics in certain colors. Had even more trouble matching some solids for my Mario quilt (again, before I lost everything for it and have to start all over).

pittsburgpam 11-13-2010 09:46 PM

I've been keeping an eye out for a certain green that I haven't seen anywhere but in a pattern (which doesn't say the fabric). It's kind of a 30's type of color, close to a Tiffany Blue, but not that blue, more green.

I really like that color... I also like Tiffany Blue. :lol:

Momsmurf 11-13-2010 11:10 PM


Originally Posted by mollymct
Whatever color you really need!! Or that's the case for me.

Exactly!

:?

C.Cal Quilt Girl 11-14-2010 12:04 AM

Yep.. one more justification to keep that stash full :)
Tones and trends change, but they all come back :)
Good reason to Quilt for years:)

Not long ago went back and bought same fab as what was purchased a couple of weeks earlier and is a completely different color.... had enough to finish that area, and start border in the new shade, looks OK. TG

earthwalker 11-14-2010 12:11 AM

Nice bright cherry red....still looking and I guess it will eventually turn up!

lizzy 11-14-2010 01:23 AM

Royal purple. Most are too blue or too purple. Orange is second in line. If I see a pretty orange, I always buy at least 1/2 yard.

BarbM32 11-14-2010 02:28 AM

I find Marshall's in Batesville, Ar carries a good range of colors. They wholesale and retail. BarbM

LCkitty 11-14-2010 05:59 AM

Untill this year different palettes of gray was very hard to find . But this year I have found it in quite a few stores. Now to stock up for that stash!

dorrell ann 11-14-2010 06:55 AM

The solution dye your own fabric -I just started and it is really fun!

Annz 11-14-2010 07:52 AM

Seems to me that pastels are always hard to find in the right shade.

daisydell 11-14-2010 09:40 AM

true black, most have a washed out look, or a gray look. I was told to ask for Amish black. Will try that next

catrancher 11-14-2010 09:53 AM

true white, in my opinion. I can find white on white or winter white. But white? It doesn't seem to exist. I finally found some online.

Prissnboot 11-14-2010 09:54 AM

I don't know about color, but I've been searching for novelty wrestling fabric for a while with no results. I have located some licensed fabric, but would rather have a novelty fabric.

pookie ookie 11-14-2010 09:59 AM

Purple probably. I did see some in the Colonial Poison Green and Cheddar set. My eyes are so bad it might have just been off blues. lol

I just looked some of them up and they are indeed named purples.
http://www.fabric.com/quilting-fabri...n-cheddar.aspx

ginnyk 11-14-2010 02:07 PM

One comment is that any color under store light is never true. In paint stores there is sometimes a display where you can hold chips under different lights and the difference is amazing. If you really want to be sure, view it under an OTT (full spectrum) light or find a way to look at it in the real daylight.

quilterfly 11-14-2010 03:35 PM

went nuts for weeks trying to find a black/white stripe for a workshop. NOBODY had one. went to Joann's last Friday & low & behold! there it was! too late!

Dee 11-14-2010 09:03 PM

A pretty real pink and a true deep purple.

bjdemir 11-14-2010 09:31 PM

I just bought some hunter green at JoAnn's. I thought I was buying black! But I found a use for it already so am glad I bought it.

glenda5253 11-14-2010 10:19 PM

The right shade of purple has been my latest nightmare. Purples are out there in droves but the one I needed to match looked like washed out pink next to 99.9% of the purples I found.

donnalynett 11-14-2010 10:52 PM

the bright "neon" colors in quilting fabric seem impossible to find and I don't want to make kites!

GailG 11-15-2010 03:36 AM


Originally Posted by quiltbugs
Hunter green. I can never find any nice dark green fabric.

I agree on this. Also, this applies to both blues and greens -- I find that blending blues or greens is most difficult because one blue may have too much green or too much red in it; same with greens -- one green may have too much (or not enough) yellow, blue or brown. Does all this mumbo-jumbo make any sense?

jdeery 11-15-2010 09:37 AM

Red is the one for me, I was looking and looking and finally
found one that matched what I needed got it home started
cutting to realize, it wasn't all cotton...well I used it anyway.
I broke the cardinal rule...I hope it will be okay.

GailG 11-15-2010 11:14 AM


Originally Posted by jdeery
Red is the one for me, I was looking and looking and finally
found one that matched what I needed got it home started
cutting to realize, it wasn't all cotton...well I used it anyway.
I broke the cardinal rule...I hope it will be okay.

Try sewing a simple block using the fabrics. Steam press the gazoobas out of it. If the part-cotton one does OK, it'll be fine. I once pieced something using cottons and blends. When I gave the really serious steam press to the piece, one of the pieces really drew up (perhaps melted a bit). Lesson learned.

auntiehenno 11-16-2010 03:33 AM

Like fabrics with black backgrounds, but the print has to be vivid, or Victorian.

sandyo 11-16-2010 03:36 AM

Yes I agree it is always the color or design you are looking for. As soon as you finish your project you can find it everywhere.


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