joyce888

I get my best inspiration from this board. Use the pictures of completed quilts and or blocks to see what catches your eye. Is it the color combinations, the block, the pattern, or the item itself. I just finished a quilt that was pictured on this board a couple of months ago. I used the same fabrics and the same block pattern. I did use a different background in the blocks and a different fabric for the borders. Copying someone else's colors or patterns isn't a bad thing - it's the sincerest compliment.

mimee4

The more quilts, large or small, you make the more you find your "niche". Colors just pop out at you. Blocks will become your special friends and you will make them over and over. Each time you will try a new scheme. Jump in!!

jodyma

I am horrible with color. I will buy it at the quilt shop and think it looks amazing, then bring it home and it just doesn't have any pizzazz. 2 Hints---go to your local paint supply store(Lowes', Home Depot etc. ) and pick up the paint cards with 5 or 6 colors on them. Then when you decide to do a quilt choose one card and use that to select the colors for fabric. Or another thing that I find helpful---use all fabric in quilt in same line, etc. Moda(company) Fandago(name of line). Good luck and just so you know----Quilting is addictive.

alapetitechaise

If you have a pattern you like, your local quilt shop can help with fabric and color choices. It takes time and practice ; you will get there.

gramquilter2

Go with what YOU love and it will work. The first quilt my 15 year old granddaughter made was red, purple, and orange. The LQS clerk kept telling her they won't work together and made other suggestions, she said no, this is what I want. When her quilt was finished it was beautiful and worked out perfectly. My 8 year old granddaughter was making a pink quilt and wanted green camouflage fabric in it and I thought no, but that too was a great quilt. So go with what you LOVE!

maryellen2u

Go to a good quilt shop with a simple pattern in hand. Look until a fabric jumps out and shouts at you, "Take me home!" Then find 2 or 3 other fabrics to compliment that one. Think light, medium and dark. Stack 'em up and step away. Look back at them and see what you think. Then ask a few other people for their ideas. Other shoppers and the store clerks will give you their opinions. Quickly buy your best choices and head out the store to enjoy them! You will forget about all those other choices as soon as you are in the car on the way home. Then jump right in and begin. There is no better way to learn how to quilt than by doing it! Enjoy!

sewingsusie

I quilted many years without a pattern--couldnt afford one--just looked at others and copied best i could.They mare all good--maybe not perfect but loved all the same.And as for the color wheel---well i flunked art in high school because i couldnt make a color wheel.Lttle did i know--i was partially color blind!!didnt find out till i went for a job when i was older!!I just pick material i like and go with it!!

Rose_P

You've got to walk before you can run, and also keep in mind that you are not a machine but a human being who will make something warm and beautiful, but not necessarily perfect.

A good way to start is to pick one print that you love for a feature fabric and then find solids and subtle prints that pick up the colors from it. Look for a fabric that has the colors in dots along the selvage. That will make finding the coordinating fabrics even easier. Another excellent alternative is to make a two-color quilt, such as a hunter's star.

I'd also recommend hooking up with a guild, if possible, and especially doing quilts to donate. You will find that just knowing you are filling a need will help keep you moving forward. An extra benefit: In our guild the fabrics for the charity projects have been donated, so you can get lots of practice without a big financial outlay.

Here's a list of quilt guilds in Minnesota:
http://www.quiltguilds.com/minnesota.htm

Rose_P

I, too, noticed the question unanswered. If you open a picture in a program (Picassa, for example, is a free Internet download and very useful.), you can convert it to black and white, which is also known as grayscale because that more accurately describes what happens. All the colors are changed to shades of gray, allowing you to easily identify whether there is enough contrast to show up your pattern.

Rosie the "Ripper"

Take a small piece of each of your fabrics and make a black and white copy of them. Then you will see the contrast between them and know if you have enough. You don't want all darks or all lights or all mediums. You want a variety. Try it!