earthwalker

Ah....paralysis by over-analysis...ask me how I know.....Time to throw caution to the wind and JUST DO IT. Maybe a scrap or crazy quilt might just be what you need to get you on your way.

annthreecats

Don't over-think fabric choices. Pick a few and go for it. Quilting should be a time for creativity. I just went shopping on ebay for quilt tops. Wow, some of those fabric choices were absolutely awful but that didn't stop those quilters. Have fun with it.

charity-crafter

All my quilts are made for charity. I just finished a big clean on my sewing room, I donated all my strings and scraps to a new charity quilter on freecycle. I gave her 6 computer boxes full of stuff because I was so tired of doing scrappy and wanted to focus on planned few fabric quilts. I posted about my scrappy adventures here: http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...ml#post4907571

I had a huge stack of 6", 8" and 12" strip blocks leftover from what I made last year. I put them up for adoption at one of my sewing dates. A few people took some to play with. I was completely amazed with what they came back with.

Now I remember about 4 yrs ago, I borrowed a friends accuquilt Go and her strip die and cut a huge amount of my fabric into 2.5" strips and made probably 20 quilts in different variations. I also cut a lot into 5" strips and made scrappy 4 and 9 patches.

I guess I'm just more comfortable with wild scrappy with 1 fabric to pull it all together. Guess I need to cut down my small pieces again and go for it.

I guess the worse that will happen is that during show and tell when I turn in my quilts for distribution I won't get many oohs and aahs. I feel I've done a good job when, after I finish it , I don't want to give it to anyone.

After I leave this world my dh has been instructed to contact my quilting group and donate all my stuff to them. So I know that it wil be used by someone for the same purpose.

nhweaver

I have a problem with mixing colors too. Cutting up my stash was made easier when I made the Farmer's Wife sampler quilt. I was able to cut what I needed from pieces of my stash. To me, it wasn't like cutting up an entire piece, I was just "snacking", not eating the whole thing.

DebraK

ha, I like that phrase. been there. usually when my space is too clean.

lots2do

Find one of your fabrics that you like but don't love. Tell yourself this one is for practice. Pick a new technique to try, maybe a disappearing 4 block, tube quilt or ten minute block. Pick out some coordinating fabrics. Play around, remind yourself it's just practice. Now, what can you make from your practice pieces? Placemats, a comfort quilt, sewing machine cover? I'm keeping track of how much fabric I'm using up because I want to free up some breathing space. This is helping me. It can't be that important if it's just practice.

wolph33

I have been making quilts for longer than I want to say and it still happens to me a lot.I have some beauties that I hang on to that I just can not cut.Just pick a few that look good together and dig in-it should be fun.start with a lap quilt and after you get 1 done maybe you will be happy to cut more fabric.

pollyjvan9

I like to sit down with my books and magazines, then when I run onto something I absolutely love I start looking for fabrics in my stash that are close to their colors. If I don't have every color I just substitute in the same color family.