Selecting Fabrics for A New Project... My Process

Hello Everyone,

Over the past few days I have been selecting fabrics for a new project. In less than a month, I will be attending a Judy Niemeyer Retreat in Montana and I will be starting one of her newer patterns, Summer Solstice. (Pssst... there are only 2 still in stock)

Of course, I needed to do this one bright and with Kaffe Fassett Fabrics. But I really wasn't sure what or how I wanted it to look. So, I called on my friend Pam to come over.

We pulled many fabrics off my shop's shelves and played. This is the stack that we narrowed it down to in the end.

However, these weren't the first choices. So I thought I might tell you about what went on in my head. I hope you don't get too bored.

For the Lone Star portion of the quilt I decided that I wanted the rainbow effect or ROYGBIV. The Lone Star had to have that wonderful color burst. We were able to gather all the fabrics that I thought would do the trick. But then we had to do the NY Beauty blocks. Not too difficult, we chose reds and greens.

But then the road block, the first, second, and third border. Initially we had picked a bright sunny yellow for the first border, repeated the deepest darkest purple for the skinny second border, and then repeated the reds in the pieced border. I, at first liked the idea. But after stepping away from it all, it kept bothering me. I thought "this is just going to be way too much in your face BRIGHT"

What say you... too bright for me? Yep, that is right! So out came the colored pencils. Do you do this too?

In Judy's patterns she gives you a black and white rendition of the pattern. I made four copies and started penciling in what was in my head. The Lone Star has the rainbow effect that I wanted. I also like the NY Beauties.

But I felt that the Lone Star needed to be set against black to really make it the centerpiece of the whole quilt. I felt that if I had used the bright yellow, it just would have been too much.

Then I decided to repeat the green in the skinny border and have the red in the pieced outer border. I am happy with the penciled in result, but feel that Kaffe's fabrics will make this one really shine. What do you think of this rendition?

Here is the original sheet from Judy's pattern. She has spaces where you can place snippets of your fabrics to keep track. Out came the glue pen and tape and I affixed them all. It really is a great system.

Here you see the cover quilt, totally different colors, my penciled mock up, and my fabric cheat sheet.

This photo show you the fabrics for the pieced border, the skinny inner border and the black border. I do find it appealing to my eye. Although the order and amount of the red fabric may change slightly. What do you think?

On the left is the Lone Star line up of fabrics, on the right the NY Beauty line up and the black batik is what they will all rest against. This batik was one that I had purchased years ago and just pulled from my stash. But all the others came straight from my shop!

What do you think of the colors? Do they make you smile like they are making me smile? How do you go about choosing fabrics for a new project? Is it random, or planned? Does it change along the way?

Speaking of color... please stop by Rachel's fabulous blog, Stitched in Color. I am one of her newest sponsors and she did a fabulous post about me... I am blushing, honored, and humbled. While you are there, browse around a little, such a fun place and tons of inspiration!!

Until Next Time...

Selecting Fabrics for A New Project... My Process