Have you ever looked at a quilt and thought to yourself, "I wonder why the quilter used those fabrics"? Have you looked at unusual color combinations and thought, "I would never dare use those colors together, and yet they seem to work"? Have you ever struggled with putting together fabrics and colors and patterns of your own?
Fabric selection is an issue many quilters struggle with, says Brenda Bailey, quilt designer and owner of Pie Plate Patterns in Fountain Green.
Bailey made her first quilt when she was 6. "It was a doll quilt that my grandmother helped me make," she says, and that was when she fell in love with sewing. "My grandmother had an old treadle sewing machine. She would let me sit under her chair and work the treadle."
Bailey taught home economics and sewed clothes for all her children, but she didn't get back to quilting until she and her daughter took a class at Snow College. For the past three years she has designed and sold patterns.
Bailey talked about the basics of fabric selection at a class at the Utah Quilt Guild's Annual Quilt Festival, held recently at the Ogden Eccles Conference Center.
There is both art and science to choosing fabric. "Common mistakes include using too many busy prints or not having enough contrast," she said.
But the most important thing, she said, is to pick something you like. "Bonnie (her daughter) and I would never pick the same fabrics, and that's OK." There is so much fabric out there, because everyone is drawn to different fabrics. But don't let choosing them get in the way of your enjoyment.
"I've always loved fabrics, and I love the creativity involved in quilting," said Bailey. "To me, it is very relaxing, very fulfilling. It takes me to my quiet spot. I can take a few minutes to get away from all that's going on in life."
But if fabric selection is a struggle for you, there are also some basic principles of color and design that can help. Here are some of Bailey's suggestions:
1. Start with the color wheel. We all learned about the primary colors back in elementary school. The way the colors are arranged on the wheel can help you combine fabrics in ways pleasing to the eye.
There are several possible combinations, said Bailey. "An easy way to make a quilt that looks good is to do a monochromatic quilt. Pick one color and use various hues and shades of that color."
Complementary colors — those that are opposite each other on the color wheel — are another possibility. Yellow is across from violet; oranges are across from blues, for example.
A variation on that is the split complementary pattern. This uses one color and the two colors adjacent to its opposite on the color wheel: red, yellow-green and blue-green, for example. Or orange and blue-green and blue-violet.
Colors that are analogous — next to each other on the wheel — also work well together: Try yellow, yellow-green, green and blue-green, for example.
And a final pattern is triadic: three colors that form an equilateral triangle on the color wheel: red, blue and yellow; or, orange, green and violet.
2. Consider tints, shades and values. Tints are created by adding white to a basic color; shades are created by adding black. Value refers to the degree of lightness and darkness of a color. Usually, the prettiest quilts have a mixture of light, medium and dark values, she says. "The variety of values creates contrast."
But the thing to remember, she said, is that "values are relative." What could be considered a dark value when paired with lighter fabrics can also be considered light when paired with darker fabrics.
When it comes to values, you also need to consider the position in the quilt. "Bright colors will jump out more. High-contrast fabrics will give you a more graphic design. Low-contrast colors will have a softer look."
And remember that warm colors — those on the left side of the wheel (reds and oranges) — advance, while cool colors — those on the right (blues and greens) will recede.
A good place to begin, she said, is to have about 15 percent of the quilt as light fabrics; 70 percent medium; 15 percent dark. "As you get more experienced, you can adjust those percentages to suit your design."
3. Look at fabric quality. Another important consideration in fabric selection is the quality of the material. "Your quilt will only be as good as the worst piece of fabric. Don't spend all that time making a quilt with poor fabrics."
Generally, the more fabric costs the better it is, but that is not always the case, she said. Nor is the manufacturer. "I've had materials from the same line that varied greatly in quality."
Poor fabric is thin, see-through and ravels easily.
Fabric content is another factor. Most quilt fabrics are 100 percent cotton. "But some that are less than 100 percent are starting to show up, even at quilt stores, so check the labels," she said.
Unless you really know what you are doing, use similar fabrics. "I've seen quilts made with denim and satin or polyester and cotton. But they are very hard to make look good."
4. Choose your prints wisely. If you are just starting out, you might want to avoid plain fabrics, said Bailey. "They stick out and they are very unforgiving." If seams don't match exactly or aren't quite straight, that will show up much more with plain fabrics.
Prints come in small, medium and large varieties, and again those are relative. Some people are intimidated by large prints, she said, but a lot also depends on the quilt pattern. Big prints work well for big pieces, but not as well for small pieces.
The same rule of thumb for values applies to print size: Start with 15 percent small prints, 70 percent medium prints and 15 percent large prints.
5. Let the experts help. If coming up with pleasing combinations is a struggle, there are ways to find help:
• Buy a kit. Many quilt stores sell patterns that come with the fabric needed to make them. All the choosing is done for you.
• Stick to one line. Fabric that is made by the same company for one line will generally go together and will still give you lots of choices.
• Buy bundles. You can find "jelly rolls," which are long strips of fabric that are packaged together, or "layer cakes," which are 40 10-inch squares that are put together. These fabrics all coordinate with each other and can be used in a variety of ways. In fact, Bailey's newest book contains a variety of patterns for layer-cake quilts.
Many quilt stores also put together packets of fat quarters that combine well together.
• Match to an object or accessory. Bailey has made quilts that used the same colors as a favorite painting. You can match to a piece of furniture, a pillow, even a favorite piece of clothing.
• Check the selvage. Many print fabrics have color dots along the selvage. Those are all the dyes that were used in that print. Using that as your focus fabric, you can match other fabrics to the colors of the dots.
• Match a product package or box. "Take a cereal package, for example. They have professional artists who design those; they know what works together."
6. Experiment. Sometimes you have to try things to see if they work. Make one block. Audition fabrics for sashing and borders by laying blocks on them and stepping away to look.
And if you get things done and are not quite happy with them? Well, as one of the class members said, "There are always places to donate quilts."
E-mail: carma@desnews.com