ManiacQuilter2

I usually audition my fabrics on my design wall so I can always give it a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, ETC glances until I find the right combination. Photos do help especially if you want to go back to a previous selection.

WandaVA

I "audition" fabrics in different light settings. I have both fluorescent and incandescent lights in the quilt studio; halogen lighting in the adjacent room where the cutting table is located; plus I take the fabrics outside in natural light. I don't have the best eye for color, so I need all the help I can get!

QltrSue

This is very good advice, IMHO, which can be used in many situations. I learned it with the first upholstered couch I ordered--loved the fabric in the sample book which I looked at in my lap. Boy, was I surprised to see it on the couch across the room when it arrived!! And WandaVa's point is good, too: fabrics look different in the light inside my home than in natural sunlight. Takes a bit of time to test and check, but well worth it. I've found that I have better results when I take some time in the selection process, rather than charging ahead just to get sewing (which is what I usually want to do lol!!!).

QUILTNMO

good tip thanks!

Ninnie

Guess i am the odd quilter out. but i buy materials because i like them. and then find a quilt i want to make later lol sure does build up your stash this way

linda8450

When I was a decorator I would help customers picking wallpaper patterns by taking the book and walking away from them. I know they thought I was crazy! But that teeny tiny little purple flower that exactly matched their bedspread just disappeared when I moved it 4 feet or 8 feet away (which is how we view our walls, not with our noses against them). Same for quilts. Even if you put the bolts on the floor, it helps to be 6' tall, but a different prospective than right under your nose. Walk back a few steps and move them around until you are pleased. Not one shop has ever even commented on me doing this, much less disapproved!

Pennyhal

Ninnie, I do the same thing. When I get fabric in hand, I get so inspired by it and always end up doing something totally different with it than what I started out to do.

We added on to our house and I have this sewing/guest room. We put in a 4x8 ft windows on the west side, and and there is a huge window in each of the other ouside walls as well. The daylight makes it so much easier to see the colors. I take off my glasses too if I happen to be wearing them. I know that glasses aren't suppose to change the color of what you see, but I swear mine do. Fortunately, I only need to wear my glasses when I'm tired or have a headache.







Ninnie

linda8450

Just another note for the decorator side of me, when customers sat in the showroom and picked out possible choices for carpet, I always went to their home with that sample and several similar. Very often they would not like the one the had picked in the showroom, as the lighting is very different that where they were going to live with that carpet. Then came the predictable call, they had gone out to the truck to see their new carpet and IT WAS WRONG! I had to tell them to trust me (never was the wrong carpet) and let the fellas bring a piece inside. In the sunlight the color is completely different than in the house. So those of you that insist on taking it outside at the quilt shop, better to take it into the bathroom if there is incandescent lights there, as you won't be using your quilt outside. What matches outside may look horrible in the light of the living room. I have been known to take the fabric into an area of the store where I can put it in the shade (away from florescent lights) so I can get a truer read on the color.

quiltqueen61

I do that when adding borders....it does make a big difference....

maviskw

Just had a thought. Why couldn't fabric have a "window" of the red plastic so we could put our fabric behind it to see the value. It could hang near the cutting table or in their classroom. A small piece would work, too, say 5 X 7. Maybe!