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How Do I Choose My Colors?

Last week’s blog was on color theory. This week, it’s time to talk about choosing the fabric colors for your quilt. The best way to pick out the right colors is to be armed with good information prior to shopping. It all starts with you! Hopefully you can take these tips with you to the quilt shop next time you need fabric for a project. Let’s get started.

Shopping for Fabrics – At home or the quilt shop.

First step is looking at the quilt photo on the cover of the pattern or the quilt displayed in the shop. If you like the colors, use that as your guide. However, you may not get those exact fabrics unless the quilt shop has kits made up. Fabric companies and shops turn over fabric often so that’s why it’s a good idea to know how to choose fabrics to sub in.

Tip#1: Before heading to the quilt shop, first look through your stash to see what you have that will work with the pattern and “audition” them by laying them out like this:

By laying the fabrics out like this, you can see if they all “play” together well. Stand back and look at your collection and see if a fabric stands out like a sore thumb. You can then remove that one and replace it with another. Do that until you like your collection.

One of my favorite things to do is “shop” my stash before going to the quilt shop when I’m starting a new project.

Tip #2: Make a few sample blocks with scraps from your stash in the color combinations you are considering for your blocks. These do not have to be the exact fabrics you use in your quilt, but similar colors. Here’s a few examples of samples I made before moving on to my actual project:

By doing this, I can see what colors I want, or don’t want, in my blocks. 

What do you do with all these random blocks laying around? Instead of them becoming random UFOs, make small quilt out of them! Either one with all the same blocks you tested or a sampler if you have enough unique blocks.

Tip #3: Once you head to the shop, you can audition fabrics by stacking bolts or fat quarters of the fabrics in a well lit area. I like to use fat quarters for this step because they are easier to handle and look at as they’re laid out. Just make sure there is a corresponding bolt of fabric available (since you may need more than a fat quarter) before you choose one for your “audition”.

Other Ways to Choose Fabric

Tip#1: Choose a fabric that you really like. Then take that around the quilt shop with you to match it to the other fabrics you need. You do not  have to stay in the same line of fabrics for them to look good together. To help, look at the selvage of the fabric you have chosen. You will often see something like this:

Those dots on the selvage are the colors that went into making this piece of fabric. You can take that piece of fabric around the shop and use those dots to find a green, orange, red and blue that will go well with this fabric. This is often used by quilters when they’ve chosen a “focus” fabric. That’s the fabric they build from to create the color scheme for their whole quilt. Here are my choices:

Tip #2: Another way to find new color combinations is to copy or draw a picture of the quilt block that makes up the quilt and use colored pencils to decide on a color way you prefer.

How to Buy the Fabric & Prepare to Cut

Tip #1: If you are buying fabric, buy a little more fabric than the pattern requires. I actually recommend at least 1/8 yard more. I automatically figure in extra fabric when writing my patterns but you can add a little extra fabric to my requirements too if it makes you feel comfortable. Here are the reasons I recommend that extra fabric:

  • When squaring up the fabric, it’s possible to lose some of the length if the fabric was wound a bit wonky onto the bolt.
  •  If you like to pre-wash your the fabric, there could be shrinkage.
  •  Finally …. cutting errors. We all have them!

Tip #2: Pre-washing fabric. Is it a required step? That’s entirely up to you, the quilter. I do not pre-wash my fabrics because that is my preference. However, here are some pros and cons to think about to make your decision.

Pre-washing Pros:
• All the fabrics that are going to shrink will shrink so the finished quilt pattern is not ruined by fabrics shrinking differently if you like to wash finished quilts.
• Certain fabrics might bleed, like purples and reds, and transfer to other parts of a quilt when the finished item is washed.
• Chemicals used in the processing of the fabric are removed in pre-washing. Some people are allergic to these chemicals so this is a benefit to them.

Pre-washing Cons:
• It takes time. The extra steps of washing and ironing adds time to the prep when getting ready to make a quilt.
• It washes out the sizing. Some quilters like this sizing which tends to make the fabric easier to cut. I like the “stiffer” fabric that, for me, seems to cut easier.
• Most of the quality fabrics today do not shrink much and the fabric dyes are much more stable to prevent bleeding. There’s also laundry products, like Shout® Color Catchers, that prevent color transfer.
• Fabric edges fray which can distort the fabric. This will require you to waste more fabric when squaring up.

If you decide to pre-wash your fabric, you can prevent most of the fraying by cutting a corner off the fabric or cutting the non-selvedge edges with pinking shears.

Tip #3: Whether you pre-wash or not, be sure to press your piece of fabric before you attempt to cut it. If you have fabric cut from the bolt, there will be some folds marks from it being rolled and a more prominent crease in the center where the fabric was folded at the manufacturer. (below left). If you bought a fat 1/4, you will have fold creases every where! (below right)

If you cut the fabric with all the creases, you can end up hitting a crease that can send your rotary cutter in an odd direction. Your pieces will not be accurately cut.

And don’t forget to square your fabric! Here’s my mini video tutorial:

 

That’s it for this week! Remember to comment below or ask a question and I will enter you in a drawing for my pattern, Stars Ablaze.

The drawing will be on Monday, October 13th.***We have a winner! Congrats, Catherine Dorsey!***

Happy Quilting, 
Deanne

Fun with Fabrics

Since I covered how I cut up my fabrics and store them in previous blog posts, I thought I would talk more about fabrics this week. What to look for when you are shopping for fabric, what to do with it once you are home from the quilt shop and other useful (I think!) information. Hopefully this post doesn’t seem too random, but sometimes that’s how my mind works… I’ll be working on something and it’ll inspire me to share tips! So here we go…

Picking Out Fabric

When you purchase a pattern, you can choose the fabric that you see on the pattern cover. Often a pattern is featured in a shop with a new line of fabric, so it’s all there for you to buy. But, what happens if you come across that pattern once the original fabric is gone? That’s what my tips are for! 

Tip #1: Choose fabric for the quilt based on the color instead of sticking to a particular line. If the pattern uses a particular fabric, but it’s no longer there, look for one that is the same shade of that color (or close to it) and with the same scale of print. Here’s an example:

Imagine that the orange print used in the quilt block on the left is no longer available in the quilt shop. The orange fabric on the right, would make a good substitution. The scale of the print is close in size and the shade of orange is close to the original also. Compare it to these other pieces of fabric:

These orange fabrics are a darker shade of orange than the one in the block and the prints are of a larger scale, so I probably wouldn’t choose these as a substitute. I’m not saying you can’t use one of these, you can. It will just change the look of your block a little more than the first fabric I suggested.

Tip #2: All your fabric choices do not have to be from the same line of fabric.  Of course there’s nothing wrong with making a quilt using the fabrics from the same line. If you are a beginner staying within one line is actually a good way to pick out fabric. But if you want to be adventurous, you can venture out and choose color prints from several different fabric lines while staying in the same genre (1800 reproductions, 30s fabrics, Batiks, etc) and still have a harmonious quilt. To match fabrics, consider using the color guide on the selvage on your favorite fabric for your project.

If your piece of fabric doesn’t have this on the selvage, look at the colors in the print itself and use that as a guide to find a match.

Tip #3: Always buy more fabric than stated on the pattern. If I am buying yardage from the bolt, I generally buy 1/8 to 1/4 yard more than I need to allow for squaring the fabric and possible cutting errors. It’s also a good idea to have extra if you are a fabric pre-washer. 

Tip #4: Venture out from the typical background to have some fun. If your quilt calls for 2 yards of a tan print for background of blocks, consider buying 4 half yards or 8 quarter yards of coordinating tans to make up that 2 yards. Then you can use different backgrounds with the variety of color print pairings for blocks to make a scrappy background. That’s what I did in my quilt, Seaside Cottage:

It will take a little math, but it’s worth it for the effect! Here’s the whole quilt:

As you can see from the whole quilt, there’s an added dimension with the scrappy backgrounds. You can also go in an entirely new direction by doing a dark background for a pattern that has a light one originally. I tried this out on my pattern, Bloomin’ Days:

If you are going to switch from a light to a dark background, be sure your color prints have enough contrast from the darker background to stand out.

Once You’re at Home

Once you are at home with your fabric, it’s time to decide if you will pre-wash it or not. There are pros and cons for pre-washing. I personally am not a pre-washer, but you can decide for yourself what you’d like to do.

Pre-washing Pros:
• All the fabrics that are going to shrink will shrink so the finished quilt pattern is not ruined by fabrics shrinking differently if you like to wash finished quilts.
• Certain fabrics might bleed, like purples and reds, and transfer to other parts of a quilt when the finished item is washed.
• Chemicals used in the processing of the fabric are removed in pre-washing. Some people are allergic to these chemicals so this is a benefit to them.

Pre-washing Cons:
• It takes time. The extra steps of washing and ironing adds time to the prep when getting ready to make a quilt.
• It washes out the sizing. Some quilters like this sizing which tends to make the fabric easier to cut. I like the “stiffer” fabric that, for me, seems to cut easier.
• Most of the quality fabrics today do not shrink much and the fabric dyes are much more stable to prevent bleeding. There’s also laundry products, like Shout® Color Catchers, that prevent color transfer.
• Fabric edges fray which can distort the fabric. This will require you to waste more fabric when squaring up.

Pre-washing is easier with yardage from the bolt, less chance of fraying. If you are wanting to pre-wash fat quarters or fat eighths, you can prevent fraying and unraveling by cutting a snip off the corners or cutting the edges with pinking shears.

Also, I recommend putting these pre-cuts in lingerie bags to help reduce the chances of fraying.

If you pre-wash, I recommend pressing those fabrics prior to folding for storing to cut down on the amount of pressing you will need to do when it’s time to use them.

So that’s all I have for this week. I hope you are inspired to go shopping for your next quilt and feel like you can be creative in picking out fabrics. Remember, there are no quilt police… there are no hard and fast rules for fabrics used in your quilt. If a piece of fabric “speaks” to you and plays well with the other fabrics you’ve chosen, that’s all that matters. We’re artists, right?

Leave a comment or ask questions below and I will enter you into a drawing for my quilt pattern, Seaside Cottage (as seen above). The drawing will be on Monday, May 8th. Good Luck! **We have a winner! Congrats, Marilyn!**

Happy Quilting!
Deanne