Claire123

Solids are great if you'd like to give your quilt a modern look. Also, you can work them into a quilt that is very busy - maybe it has lots of small, intricate piecing or maybe there are a great many different prints.

donna13350

I buy dream cotton from Marshall dry goods..great colors and great fabric !
https://marshalldrygoods.com/shop/fa...s-by-the-yard/

it also comes in 108". Another thing to try is google amish quilts..they are known for beautiful quilts made from solids.

Iceblossom

The trend for the last 20+ years is for using "reads as solids" and there is nothing wrong with that. There is a crispness you can get with solids that you can miss with the "reads as solids" but sometimes that is the point.

I'm naturally drawn to what I call "tiny vine-y" fabrics, but in my attempts to use large wild and bold prints, I find sometimes I need to balance them with solids. Sometimes with solids I am able to find the exact shade I need to use with my prints and can't find the right print to work. The last of the thumbnails shows a recent large print/solid project.

I do most of my work with scraps -- caution, solids can read as "holes" in the fabric when everything is busy around them and so I don't typically mix them with scraps.

But here's a top I did, all solids, and mostly with scraps although I did collect some more purples. My Cousin told me I should make more purple quilts so I could give them to her. This is a what I would call a "direct lift" of a traditional Roman Stripe from the Pellman's book The World of Amish Quilts. The "black" is actually Midnight Purple and each set of diagonal stripes has at least one purple in it. It's funny though the way fabrics relate with each other... so a purple next to a brown might look grey and a grey next to a blue might look purple!

With the new format, click on the thumbnail for a better look.

SusieQOH

I don't use solids much and I'm not sure why as I love them.
I made an Amish Basket quilt with all solids but to be honest, it looks sort of blah.
Maybe I'll get it out and do some quilting. That may perk it up.

osewme

I've never made a quilt with a flange in the border but have seen many that I like. Solids would be good to use for the flange.
Missouri Star Quilt Company has a good tutorial here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAQWwwAa2K0

platyhiker

Jinny Beyer has a book in which she discusses her use of color and strongly recommends including a very dark fabric that looks like a solid at a distance. I think a lot of quilts "perk up" when you follow this advice - brights look brighter and more interesting with a good dark in the mix. Here is one fabric that fits that description:

If you want to ease into solids, try using some fabrics that read as solids with your other fabrics.