GirlieWhirlie

I have seen beautiful quilts here with colors I would never have put together. I get lost in choosing colors that work well together. I spend way too much time doing this. Does anyone else have this problem.

jeantro

I do all the time. Any help would be great!

CompulsiveQuilter

I've just now spent over an hour looking online at batiks that coordinate for a 7-color quilt. And I studied a bunch yesterday too. It's ridiculous but I feel I can't afford to make a mistake!

Maride

It should be the part where you spend the most time, at least that is what I believe. Weather or not you finish a quilt will be determined first by how much you like the colors you chose(unless you are working for someone else). Don't worry about the time. Concentrate first on liking the colors you pick and you are more likely to get it done, because you like it. Don't be afraid to combine weird colors. Quilting is not like dressing. When dressing you want colors to blend, when quilting you want colors to contrast, otherwise your work will not be noticeable. A color wheel come in very handy when you have a hard time choosing fabrics. Also a couple cardboard pieces with a 2 inch window cut out. When you see a bolt you see the whole piece as an unit, but in your quilt it will not be like that. Sometimes is easier if you just see a small portion of the fabrics. I tend to select colors that are opposite in the color wheel rather than next to each other.

GirlieWhirlie

What good advice. I never thought about the cardboard trick but it makes sense. Thanks.

ktbb

you can also use the peephole tool to reduce the size of the fabrics to check for blend, or, as I do, just stand off and take off my glasses to "blur" up the colors to see if everything blends....who said old age was a pain...saved myself the cost of a peephole by taking off my glasses!!!!

cmw0829

Last weekend, I spent four hours in my LQS selecting fabrics for a quilt. Yesterday, spent two hours for another project.

Unless you have a really clear idea of what you want, taking the time will let you add/delete/modify your choices. Just my opinion...

But as the owner of the LQS said, your fabric choices evolve the more you study them. Then :lol: she pointed out that I might end up changing my mind as the quilt comes together.

quiltsRfun

When I think about it too much I end up either not liking my choices or with way to many colors to use. So now I'm trying to go with my gut feeling and instinct. Might not work for everyone but it makes it a lot more fun for me.

dflynn

This is the hardest part for me. I spent too much time on the internet looking for fabric that I think should go together. I decided that I'm going to pick out fabric by picking colors I don't think goes together. I look at some of the quilts on this site and remark "I would never has put them colors together"