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Can someone recommend a good gray solid fabric for modern quilts?

Can someone recommend a good gray solid fabric for modern quilts?

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Old 12-01-2014, 03:39 PM
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Default Can someone recommend a good gray solid fabric for modern quilts?

I have a good black (Michael Miller's Jet Black), a good off-white (Kona Snow), and a good all-purpose Christmas red (would have to delve into my stash and pull it out to recall the name of that one). I am planning to cut these into 2-1/2" strips to have on hand when using up my large, messy stash of fabrics. I'd like to make some modern quilts and think gray would be a good foil for some of the fabrics.

Some of the quilts on this web page show how gray is often used in modern quilts:
http://christaquilts.com/2013/05/13/...modern-quilts/

Anyone have a favorite gray they can recommend?
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Old 12-01-2014, 03:43 PM
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I have been looking at all the grays in the Kona Cotton line and the more I look, the more confused I get. Good Luck!
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Old 12-01-2014, 03:58 PM
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I have purchased Kona Ash for gray backgrounds in quilts. I based my decision on quilts I saw online where the maker stated they used the Ash. Hope this helps you too.
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Old 12-01-2014, 06:35 PM
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I use lots of gray in my quilts. My favorite three are: Kona Steel (darkest), Kona Shadow (medium/light gray) and Kona Silver (the lightest gray). There are many shades of gray, some have taupe tones and others have purple tones, but these three seem to work as pure grays for me.
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Old 12-01-2014, 07:15 PM
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There are lots of grays. What I normally do would take scraps that I would be using in the quiltl. Pull out a couple of grays from the shop, open it up a ways and then sprinkle the scraps around on it to see how you like it. Then on to the next gray. Don't look just at Kona/Bella but if they have some grunge or there is a new one that looks like burlap.
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Old 12-01-2014, 07:49 PM
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I use Kona Gray from JoAnns...
K
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Old 12-01-2014, 09:19 PM
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Originally Posted by sandyfullmer View Post
I have purchased Kona Ash for gray backgrounds in quilts. I based my decision on quilts I saw online where the maker stated they used the Ash. Hope this helps you too.
Ditto. I saw a quilt with gray that I liked and it was made with Kona Ash so that's what I bought.
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Old 12-01-2014, 09:50 PM
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Ash is my favorite too, though sometimes I mix it up and go lighter a shade or two.
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Old 12-02-2014, 09:52 AM
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A blog I follow just had a article today about choosing the perfect Kona gray!
http://www.freshlypieced.com/2014/12...ona-cheat.html
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Old 12-02-2014, 10:57 AM
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I make only modern quilt and Kona Ash is color I use the most for background. It seems to blend so well with anything...
Nice link to the Kona cheat sheet... Very interesting post.
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