Picking out fabric
#21
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Posts: 939
I usually start with one fabric that I love and go from there. It can take me several weeks to pull all my fabrics together. I have to go look, then go home and think about what I have seen and how the fabrics will go together. I picture various fabrics and colors in my mind until I have all of my materials. I just am not someone who makes quick decisions. When I do decide quickly, I often am not happy.
#24
I know exactly how you feel. I agree with NJ quilter, start with the focus fabric and then work to enhance it. I usually play it safe and stay in the same family of colors at the beginning and then branch out from there. If the main body of the project is red then I lay fabrics that compliment it out and just keep going until I find the one that pleases me. Also I'm blessed to have a DH that is fantastic at combining colors.
#26
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Corpus Christi, Tx.
Posts: 16,105
Another way is just look for one fabric with colors that you love. On the selvedge there usually will be registration dots with the colors used in the printing process. You can use the dots to help find coordinating fabrics. I've done this and sometimes don't even buy my focus fabric, just used it to pull others.
#27
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Live Oak, Texas
Posts: 6,133
I usually start out by finding one fabric I love take it home and look for a pattern then cut a scrap and go looking for fabrics that match it.That is why I have such a big stash, I never find a pattern or other fabrics to go with it. Sometimes I am lucky and the fabrics that go with it are all there and I buy them all together. I am lucky that I have always had an eye for color and have so much fun matching them up. When I first started quilting I would draw out the pattern and color it in with different colors until I found the combination I wanted for that pattern and then went shopping for fabrics with those colors. Study photos of quilts and see what others have used. It will help you learn what fabrics and colors compliment each other.
#28
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Chula Vista CA
Posts: 7,360
Another thing I try to do before I buy them is take them outside to see if they go together. Store lighting can alter the colors and when I get them home, I would sometimes wonder how in the world did I think they went together. Turned out it was the lighting - so now I will ask if I can take it outside for a moment. So far no one has said no.
#29
Jinny Beyer's book 'Color confidence for Quilters' has been a great help for me.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...e_For_Quilters
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...e_For_Quilters
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