Solids - How do you use them?
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 27
Solids - How do you use them?
Still a newbie - do more research than quilting! I've been avoiding solids, they seem so impersonal yet I know they must have a place. How do you use them? Are there certain places you think they are better than prints? I know some prints "read as solids" from a distance yet up close they have personality. Please give me food for thought on this journey.
Thanks!
Thanks!
#2
Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 142
I'm still relatively new myself, but I like wild colors and fabric patterns so I use solids to give the eye a place to "rest" after taking in all the wildness. I was doing a split rail quilt in my "learn to quilt" class and, since I was mixing the fabrics together from 2 precut jelly roll packs, the patterns would have been way too busy and chaotic if I'd put the blocks directly against one another. Would have ruined the entire effort in my eyes (and I could tell my quilting teacher was trying to figure out how to mention that might be an issue as soon as she saw my fabrics... bless her heart lol) Instead, I threw sashing with a solid color in between the blocks and that worked out great. So sashing and backgrounds are good places to use solids in my eyes, and I'm partial to at least one solid or "read as solid" border (usually inner border) per quilt. It helps to keep a crisp and clear distinction between the various areas/spaces of the quilt design.
Also, sometimes if I'm working with a lot of fabric patterns, I'll throw in solids as "filler" (because the solids I use are less expensive than patterned fabric) If I do that, I try to use at least 2 so that it doesn't look weird to have all my fabrics be patterned except for one. That's purely to save some dough.
Also, sometimes if I'm working with a lot of fabric patterns, I'll throw in solids as "filler" (because the solids I use are less expensive than patterned fabric) If I do that, I try to use at least 2 so that it doesn't look weird to have all my fabrics be patterned except for one. That's purely to save some dough.
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 903
There are many fabulous solid fabric quilts out there - generally modern with white/gray/black as a background fabric. I use them just as I would any fabric - if the color works, it goes into the mix. Take a look at pinterest and you will see lots of examples.
#4
Still a newbie - do more research than quilting! I've been avoiding solids, they seem so impersonal yet I know they must have a place. How do you use them? Are there certain places you think they are better than prints? I know some prints "read as solids" from a distance yet up close they have personality. Please give me food for thought on this journey.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Happy quilting.
#5
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 1,231
I like solids...they leave a lot of places for FMQ and it really can make the quilt. I like the carpenter's star pattern, it's fast and very easy, and solids work well in it as long as you get a good definition between light, medium and dark.
http://www.quiltfrog.com/fourhour.html
http://www.quiltfrog.com/fourhour.html
#6
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Wis
Posts: 5,928
I like using solids. The past few years I’ve been veering away from fabrics that read as solids. I like the crispness of a solid. Lately the Moda grunge “solids “ seem to be my go-to. They’re a bit more interesting than a plain solid.
#8
Sometimes the pattern is bold enough that solids work very well. I like mixing some solid colors in with the prints. If I am looking for a specific color, and I've got it in my stash in a solid, that's what I'll use. I've never given it much thought, as long as the selection I pull looks good together.
#9
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 27
Thank you all! I'm convinced - sashing, background, HST's... I appreciate your helping me think through this brain block.
donna13350 thanks for the link - I never realized that that was a relatively simple pattern
So, now I have an new dilemma... what & where to buy. Will start a new thread for this.
Thanks again for your comments.
donna13350 thanks for the link - I never realized that that was a relatively simple pattern
So, now I have an new dilemma... what & where to buy. Will start a new thread for this.
Thanks again for your comments.