I thought it was interesting the colors you all said you "WENT FOR" when you first entered a quilt shop...
Sometimes it's your favorite color, sometimes it's the moment...
For me it's RED,Red is my base color. I'm always on a never ending quest for the perfect red. I've had many favorite's over the years... I tend to buy a lot of a favorite, whether I need it or not...
Red is not even the color I have the most of in my stash. go figure! But it has it's own BIN for scraps!
The thing I find fascinating though is the things we automatically select. If you put three stacks of fabric from three of my closest friends, I could name each stack correctly. Each of us has a style of fabrics that we continually search out.
I go shopping with my Friends, and they say, "Oh, That is so Victoria!"
I go to my friends houses and I lust after their fabrics stash... LeeAnn's stash makes my mouth water. Her sense of fabric choices are so different then mine. Shelly's is heavy on batiks and saturated colors most. Kim, ( I haven't seen her whole stash just her quilts) has a flare for ODD ball colors, that make me weak in the knees. Jackie has a lot of great brights and maybe a bit of black and white thrown in.
So how do we make ourselves aware of our buying habits, and change up the LOOK of what we buy?
By being aware of the overall LOOK of the fabrics we buy, will that change our stash? Or will we constantly gravitate to our own mix, blend and style of fabrics?
Or are we so accustomed to what made an impact on us as kids? RED snowmobiles, RED front door, RED International Harvester tractors?
I may as a challenge, pull fabrics from my own stash, that represent my idea of my friends stash, and make a quilt from those!
Or, I may find Kim and go for a shopping day and have her go buy me some fabrics of her own choosing! (I'm reminding myself I need to do this as I have mentioned this before!)
But for now.... I'm OK with a lot of red!
Can you tell me though:
Do you see your stash, "different" then your friends stash?
Do you have stash envy of the colors others buy, that don't tend to show up in your stash?
Do you think of your friends, as their color selections? Like, so and so would love that fabric?
I'm curious if you aspire to buy different fabrics or are you content with what you buy?
Red is a great color. I love your collage. I would love to see what you do with your friends fabric choices.
ReplyDeleteI can not WAIT to see your fabric stash!
ReplyDeleteRED! I'll second that! I'm thinking plaids too--especially red!
ReplyDeleteI love red to wear and sew with . I like what I call christmas red . Deep ,rich and warm looking .
ReplyDeleteI love red, too. Who wouldn't!?
ReplyDeleteMy collection of reds has grown from almost none six months ago to a very healthy selection now. I have found quite a bit of red at garage and estate sales. I am starting to use more of it, and really liking it.
ReplyDeleteNo one does color quite like you. You pair the "odd" and make them sing. :o) I do like to step outside of my box now and then.
ReplyDeleteOK, there! that's what I mean.. what's ODD... I want to know what that is... it's so relative to what others bring to the table... I'm dying to know!
ReplyDeleteYes, red is definitely your neutral for sure and a good one too! Funny how we do gravitate towards the same colors. But I agree red tends to make quilts sing just a bit louder. All shades... I love the pinker shades of reds, like fuchsia! We really need to schedule a play date!
ReplyDeleteMostly, I see my stash as much smaller than any other quilter I know. I only started on this journey a little over a year ago and haven't had time or funds to build it. I started with an inherited stash of seven plastic bins with all scraps. I think part of my quilting color rut has to do with this beginning stash. I do have stash envy. I love the fabrics and colors in LeeAnn and Sally's stashes. When I go to the thrift stores, I keep coming out with blue plaids because that is what I seem to see most of.
ReplyDeleteI am also envious of all the wonderful fabrics and colors you have. I think I still have a little fear of buying something outside of the colors I am most comfortable with. I still don't completely trust my design sense, and tend to rely on comfortable colors to pull it off. My BOM quilt is completely different for me, though, and I love it. Same with my Echo quilt, which still needs to be quilted. This year, I am going to work outside my color comfort zone on my AAQI quilts each month. I think that will help. I do aspire to increase my stash with a variety of brighter colors. I think that is the major difference between my stash and yours, LeeAnn's and Sally's. I do love color of all sorts, so I will continue to evolve my stash with that in mind.
Thanks for getting me thinking more about my relationship with colors. When I was doing pastel painting, for many years, I was always in search of the right green. I had more than 100 different green pastels, and they were never the right one, it seemed. Now, I still have the same problem with green. Blue was always my favorite color, for most of my life. I have very few blues in my stash that are not turquoise or teal. I am going to have to look at my stash with new eyes now.
I do find myself thinking about other quilters when I am in a fabric store. Interesting.
Thanks for the questions.
MMMMM Red! My fav, but surprisingly I don't use it that often. I have one granddaughter that loves it, too, so I really enjoyed making her quilt.
ReplyDeleteI used to buy any red I saw, but now that the "red bin" is full I don't buy as much of it. I used to shop and buy only what I liked - like a cook prepares what she likes to eat - but now I buy with an eye for colors that will go with my current project.
Does that answer your question? I don't have any quilting friends, except you blogger folks.
i'm relatively new to the quilting ways...still too matchey, matchey (goes back to the old rules in sewing garments). note to self: need to study and memorize the color wheel. learn contrast!!! my home is decorated more shabby chic and it's hard to imagine reds and saturated blues working in my bright pastel environment. :>)
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow MN native, I just gotta say....snowmobiling is just not the same without....snowmobile suits!!! Your picture brings back memories!
ReplyDeleteMy stash is old since I didn't sew for 12 years and didn't buy new fabric. My old mauves and dusty blues I've donated to a girls sewing class because I can't even stomach to see it in a scrappy quilt lol! My color choices have changed with the times.
ReplyDeleteMy stash is quite extensive. I do lack in purple and yellow. I love this discussion. My sisters and I get together and quilt and it is interesting to see the different tastes in color and design.
ReplyDeleteI tend to like more modern improv type quilting and most of my sisters are traditional.
I often think I don't like my stash. I often envy my friend's stash.
ReplyDeleteI have worked to not buy anything for the last year. I have fallen a few times and tried to buy what I do like.
The big problem is, I inherited my mother's stash and three huge boxes from a friend who died last year. So much of it is not my choosing.
glen
I am happy with what I buy, but then again, I like all fabrics in all colors! I admire a lot of the fabrics others buy, but won't buy them myself because i can't imagine them in my home or any particular project. My friends tell me I make beautiful things with ugly fabrics. ;-)
ReplyDeleteSince I live in a Civil War Era house, that is the stash I've decided best suits me, and the look I want in the rooms. But I've told Rachael at BlueMountainDaisy many times that if I had the chance to start my stash new, I'd go for hers in a minute! Hers is full of vivid colors, and amazing and fun patterns (think skeletons riding bicycles, right next to pineapples with smiles, and vintage cracker box labels! Holy cow! Fun!) Of course, I'd have to live in a house with modern style and flair (kindof like yours, Victoria!), but that will never happen. So I'm happy and content with my repros!
ReplyDeleteLove the snowmobile photo - is that you on the back??
ReplyDeleteI like what I buy, so much so that I don't want to use some of it and that's bad. I'd love to visit your stash.
I love all the red is other's quilts - like yours and Nifty's - but I don't tend to buy red. Isn't that funny? Then when I need to grab some from my stash, it's not there...but I LIKE that all our stashes and quilts are different, that we each quilt in our own voice..even if our voice changes over the years. It's a journey, no?
ReplyDeleteFascinating questions and how interesting to read the comments. I love my stash which has fabrics from the early 1970's to the present day. I've bought a lot of modern fabrics this year and they play very well with the oldies but I rarely buy more than a fat quarter of any one design. I do find that other people's stashes are fascinating and the fabric choices available in the U.S. are so amazing. I'm very averse to buying yellows although I have a lot of browns and oranges.
ReplyDeleteThose lovely reds make me drool...I love red, but don't use it enough. I always gravitate toward people and projects that incorporate that color! It is so powerful, distinctive and warm. I'm always looking for new pieces of red to add to my stash (and good yellows/golds/oranges).
ReplyDeleteIn stitches,
Teresa :o)