I'm attaching an Adobe Illustrator design for a full size quilt. It uses 12 shades of blue. It will be the first large quilt that I have made. The white thin border along the sides and bottom should run along the edges of the bed. So here are my questions:
1) Do you think it's a nice design? It's really hard for me to tell how it will look when it's finished, even with the drawing.
2) Do you think I should use solid colors or find fabrics of the right shade, but with some design in them--I think that it might be a bit too busy if I don't use solids.
3) Can you make suggestions to improve the design? I'm not sensitive, and I expect this will take me a long time to make, so I want to love it when I'm finished--all suggestions will be appreciated--you folks are so talented.
Thanks,
Carol

I wouldn't go with ALL prints, that WOULD be too busy.
If you decide to try to find some prints in the right shades, I would try to alternate and do every other or every third color as a print.
I think it will be a very pretty quilt. Dont' forget to post pics when you pick your fabric and again as you're working on it.
Carol B

I think the solid colors would be stunning and allow for some beautiful quilting. My only concern would be finding 12 shades of solid blue, but then again, I've never looked for solids before. I also think it would look nice if you used small print, tone on tone fabrics.

I think its pretty too! As Carol said, maybe solids AND prints, since there are ALOT of pieces!

I think I would like it all solids the best, like the above picture, it looks very dramatic.

I think the pic looks cool as is. Whatever prints you use, let them read solid. It would be very dramatic, like Amish style with just the use of solids.

Hi Carol, I think it is a nice pattern, all the different shades is very interesting. In my humble opinion, I think I would use small prints in the larger spaces, solids in the small triangles. and the stripe border a mixture following your pattern colors. It's crazy, I'm giving you an opinion, and I can't even decide on a pattern !! And looking at all the fabrics on different sites makes it worse! Go for it girl!!

i think it looks like it will be very pretty...

as far as solids versus prints, its a very personal decision.
personally, i dont think i would want to use large prints or all prints... maybe some small florals with some solids...
but thats just me, and i could be wrong :D

hope you post pics when you finally decide, im sure it will be lovely

P.S> I'm a Carol too!!

I think the color will be what makes the quilt stand out from other Stretched Star designs.
I haven't seen that many shades of blue fabric in one fabric line before. You may have to dye you fabric to get all the right color shades.

I have no idea if I'll be able to find the fabrics. I just created it on the computer. Any suggestions as to good places to find the fabrics?

I think its stunning!! Since I don't know if you'll find 12 shades of solid blue, I probably would mix tone on tones with it. I wouldn't do a print I think it would take away from what you're trying to do.

The only thing different I think I would do, is at the cornor blocks of the border do like a spray, instead of vertical and horizontal coming together. :thumbup:

what do you mean by a spray? like mitering the corners?

Wow..I love it just as it is...the variegated blues...would be really beautiful if you kept it that way.

I really like it the way that it's shown. Have seen enough solids to do it, will just have to find the website again. Another thought, if you want to keep the "modern" taste that it has now, is to go with batiks.

I love the idea of all solids. Very dramatic. It may be tough to find enough solids, but here is a starting idea. Supposedly, Robert Kaufman Kona cotton comes in 221 solid shades!

http://www.robertkaufman.com/fabrics/kona_cotton/

I love the design! I'm not much of a solids fan, but I'd be tempted to look for marbles or solid batiks, like Hoffman 1895 group. You could also use prints that read as more solids, small designs with space between.

Sort of. I would bring the sides and the bottom to a certain point and then I would, probably PP'ing would be the best way, make like wedges that are wider on the outside to very narrow.

Did I explain myself? :oops: I made a sort of kinda drawing!! :lol:

I think I'd like solids too but blue is one of the hardest colors to match. I agree it would be hard to find all those shades.

It's the thrill of the hunt! :thumbup:

I love it just the way you have it, can't wait to see the finished project.

Another thought on the blue fabric, there are some that range from light to darker within a color family. Batik Cascade comes to mind. If you added up all the blues, there are at least 16 colors. It might be something to get 1/4 yard of each and experiment. Here's a link.

http://www.avlyn.com/collections/batik-cascade_latest/

Sewcrafty, I understand now. That's a great idea! I've never done paper piecing, but this is a good place to try it.

Now I'm torn between solids and the batik idea.
Also at http://www.keepsakequilting.com/prod...OON-MEDLEY.htm
there are 7 blues shown; maybe I can use those in combination with some of the batiks. What do y'all think of that?

It is going to be very hard to find 12 gradations of blue unless you can find hand dyes, or better yet, dye your own. Blue is the hardest hue to blend seamlessly. Your design is lovely and I wish you the best of luck in finding fabrics to make it sing!

If you could find fabric to fit the design you have, it would be stunning. I would pick prints that would blend in with any solids you have and go from there. Good luck with your hunt. Once you decide, take your time finding the fabric and don't give up.

I love all your comments--they're so helpful and encouraging. Thanks so much!
And hi to all the other Carols!
Carol

I say use solids for the large space inside the star and batiks for the points.

I'm thinking this would be an awesome quilt in hand dyed fabrics

I don't know anything about hand dyed fabrics. Where do you find them? Are they as durable/washable as commercial fabrics?

Those blues have very nice tone/hue to them, I think they would be good to use as a starting point.
I think I would buy enough yardage so these strips don't have to be pieced together, it is hard to do this without it being really noticeable with solids.
Batiks, blenders and such would look beautiful, but you will lose part of the effect with them. It won't be quite as dramatic as your example, IMHO.

[/quote]Those blues have very nice tone/hue to them, I think they would be good to use as a starting point.
I think I would buy enough yardage so these strips don't have to be pieced together, it is hard to do this without it being really noticeable with solids.
Batiks, blenders and such would look beautiful, but you will lose part of the effect with them. It won't be quite as dramatic as your example, IMHO.[/quote]

What do you mean "so that the strips don't have to be pieced together" ? Are you talking about the batiks?

I would use the soilds, it will let the quilting really stand out. It's a really pretty design!

Amma,
I think I understand now what you're saying about the strips not having to be pieced together--do you mean that I don't want to have seams in the middle of peices because they would show up on solids?

Yes, that is what I meant :D:D:D depending on the quilting you choose, it could distract from the striking effect of the pattern :wink:
Batiks and blenders, florals it wouldn't matter.

tone on tone fabrics would be stunning, at a distance they will appear solid, close up they will give some movement and texture.
It is a beautiful design!

I think so too. :thumbup:

Ditto Brush&thimble's comment - I was thinking that fabrics that 'read' as solids would be much more dramatic than solids - would add a lot more dimension and texture to the design.

http://www.thousandsofbolts.com has fabrics organized by colour and a large selection of tone-on-tone blues :) <no affiliation, but have purchased from them happily>

Nice design - have fun with the project!
Linda

I think it would be awesome in solid colors. That is a beautiful pattern.

I'm not sure, but I've ordered fabric at JoAnn's. Do you know anyone there? If so, maybe they can look up the Kona and let you know the colors that they can order and get for you. Its probably the same way for the LQS. Just a thought. Do you have EQ6 or know someone that does? If so, there are a lot of fabric samples in there and it'll tell you who the manufacturer is.