I get SOOOO discouraged when I try to select colors for a quilt, using what I have in my stash. Case in point -
After cutting out several of the Neighborhood fabrics, I thought to myself why not use the same fabrics and make the Schnibbles Full House. I started working on the house front and roof block and before long I just wanted to throw it away!
Here's where I started.
After putting a couple together, I decided to regroup and use the same color way that is on the cover of the pattern.
Either I am WAY too picky, or I just don't know how to put colors together that will be pleasing to my eye. Tell me I'm not alone :-S
26 comments:
I'm sure lots of us have difficulty choosing fabrics... certainly a challenging job even with a fabric "set" like a charm pack or jelly roll.
I think your house look great... and you've got the light/dark thing going well. Your pattern seems to have the brightest fabric as the sashing and borders... how about trying your blocks with your sashing fabric... that might help seeing how it's going to turn out...
Oh, you're definitely not alone! I've come to say, "It's just not talking to me" and have foregone making a quilt until my planets are align, got my ducks in a row, the universe is at peace, etc. Very frustrating, but I've learned maybe I just wasn't meant to do that quilt right now and start something anew. I loved your houses and from my perspective you were constructing a very lovely neighborhood. XOXO
You are *not* alone ... it's why I was so determined to take the Color Theory course I just took! To me, in the pattern, the red is so dark *and* such a warm color, that it takes the forefront on the picture and makes the houses look like their recessed into the red frame ... instead of the focal. I like the grouping in your first picture, especially! :)
Definitely not alone. Remember you're just getting started. You can add more colors and even make extra blocks. I have a bag of "extra blocks" that I can pull from sometimes for donation quilts. Things that just didn't make it into the finished quilt, but are great for another project. Lane
You are not alone! But I am here to say, they all look great! And they will look great in a quilt. From one peron who thinks too hard to another...
I agonize over my color choices in everything (a quilt, embroidery, home decor), so no, it's not just you. I do find that sometimes it helps to put it down, walk away, and come back to it later. :)
you are not alone but i see we are not alone
I think it can be challenging... but I think you are too picky too. Your houses are gorgeous. Both sets. Maybe you think it out too much?
You are not alone... I sometimes change the fabric that comes in a kit! Personally, I like the houses in the second photo, but I love neutrals, and I think red sashing will add the pazazz you are looking for. (But not fire engine red... a darker red, either solid or with a small, non-directional, black or tan design in it). But that's just me!
I think this is a really big club we belong to! :) We are so hard on ourselves. I fret and fuss over every fabric selection, however, I am beginning to realize that I over think. Once the project is complete I wonder what all the fuss was about because if it is made with love, the end result makes me happy.
Lots of us in that boat!! I like all of your houses, but the on in the bottom picture left side bottom I don't think has enough contrast in the colors. Lay out the ones that you have mixing the light house next to the dark houses. I *think* you may have balanced out the darks and the lights. I'm no expert, but everyone keeps telling me look around you...look at all of the colors, there are dark houses with light roofs, and light houses with dark roofs and they are all in the same neighborhood. Stick a few tree's between them. I'm working on a Freddy Moran house quilt that was a block swap with the guild, TALK about some wild fabrics, but my quilt is looking great!!
Keep going!! Don't stop!! Keep the faith!!
Nope, you're not alone! I usually spend more time pulling fabrics than it takes to make the top! Ugh! And I think being picky about the fabrics is my type-A/perfectionist/little-miss-bossy personality coming through! lol I just want it to be perfect.... always! I so envy the gals that can put colors together without even trying! And they're great together! I'll never be like that! It's always an effort!
I hate picking out fabrics. I am a beginner & often do the quilt just as it is seen in the book or pattern. In a quilting class, I agonized each week over picking fabric for the quilt. Not good at it at all!!
Choosing fabrics is my least favorite part of making a quilt. I know other quilters who enjoy that the most. I always have to ask for help when I'm in a quilt shop. I think your houses look great.
I think your houses are cute. I seem to have a knack for picking out fabrics, love it. I should pick for others it would save me money.
I agonize over picking out fabrics. I spend way to much time picking fabrics and then when I do get the quilt done there is always "one" fabric I wish I could just pull out of the quilt. I wonder is a class in color would help me but I am sure I will always have this problem. Your houses look great.
I know what you mean. I struggle with color groupings. My quilts using prepared pre-cuts look nice.
Love your houses and the pattern.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE....how is that :)
I'm with you and I've had to depend on my color wheel and I like Edyta Sitars method..she say....Choose 5...a large, medium and a small and then add a dot or a stripe. Her book, Hop To It explains a lot about how she puts things together and I refer to it frequently. I'd buy clothes like Sears used to sell, the Granamals, there the tops matched the bottoms....cuz I don't like doing it...LOL
Kelly
You are SO not alone, girl! I've thrown out more things because I did horribly with the colors....sigh.
You are in good company, but then again, I struggle to keep anything in just one line of fabric, it sometimes seems too "matchy-matchy" to suit me. So choose the ones that give you a smile!
:-}pokey
You're definitely not alone (part of the reason why I wrote my book!). Looking at the pattern, I think the bright pink is what makes the neutral houses work so well, so it maybe worth trying to lay out a few blocks with your sashing and see how it feels then?
You're not alone! We all have these anxiety attacks about this point in a project. On my monitor every one of your blocks looks great and the ones with the bit of red on the houses will add just the right spark amongst the more neutral ones. If you have your sashing fabric why not lay out these blocks in rows on top of the sashing and then step back and squint to blur the colors/shapes together a bit, and see if you like it then. I'll bet you will! I don't have a design wall and have to lay everything out on the living room floor which has a fuschia carpet - NOTHING looks good against that backdrop, so we fly by the seat of our pants every time, making a few extra blocks so if one looks horribly out of place in the total layout, it can come out and go into another project.
I think you are being too hard on yourself, your blocks look great
You definitely are not alone. I tend to have one fabric grab me and say use me! then I wander around for hours looking for coordinating fabrics. I usually ask others in the store, "Do these look good together?"
Well, I read the comments and have to add mine! I love picking colors now but used to struggle too! Here's a fun thing to try! Find a gorgeous print with lots of colors that you just love. Then use it to pick colors for your quilt. The dots on the selvage are the color scheme of the fabric. Sometimes I don't even use the large print in my quilt...it's just my inspiration piece. Then, if you like the colors in the quilt, don't worry about anybody else. I have found over the years that I have a dual personality with color. Bright colors for spring and summer and dark, primitive colors for fall and winter. Well, just sharing! Hope you will try it!
Cheery wave from Bev
http://44thstreetfabric.blogspot.com
I know I am a couple of days late in posting, but choosing colors is the hardest part of quilting for me. I am so glad to know I am not alone in this. It is not something one readily admits to.
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