How To Choose Your Fabrics

 Hello my dear friends,

Choosing my fabrics would have to be my favourite part of quilting. I get a little thrill walking into the shop full of wonderful expectations of finding the "perfect" fabrics. What comes first - the pattern or the fabrics? A bit of both I think.

Sometimes you may have a colour scheme in mind, then you find a pattern. A great place to start is Pinterest or just google the type of quilt you would like to create. For example Baby Quilts, Autumn Quilts, Puff Quilts, Modern Quilts, Traditional Quilts. Add the words For Beginners, Medium Ability or even Difficult Quilts. Companies such as Missouri Star Quilt Co., Jordan's Fabrics or Fat Quarter Shop offer step by step tutorials for many patterns.

What will your fabrics design include? Solid colours, florals, spots, stripes, dogs, cats - the choices are endless.

If all this seems too overwhelming and confusing try curated fabric collections.  These can be purchased as fat quarters, charm packs, jelly rolls and layer cakes. Some online shops, such as Scribbly Gum Quilt Co. offer curated bundles and quilt kits. I've recently bought a curated bundle but needed a couple of extra fat quarters - I wasn't quite sure what to choose, so I emailed the owner and she helped me decide. Quilt shop assistants are a huge help, suggesting different possibilities.

This is a curated bundle for an upcoming quilt.

Look for colour inspiration in nature, art, life.

Choose a focus fabric, use didn't shades but with the same tone. Keep colour vibrancy the same - such as warm or cool colours, really bright, clear hues or dusty, muted hues. If you really want to, google colour theory to explore in-depth an understanding of colour.

 

A variety of size in the design of the fabrics provides balance and contrast. Combine small, medium and large scale designs.

QP by Rhonda