I am trying to slow summer down but I am not succeeding. Finally, I listed my Cape Cod house for sale. For information you can call my broker, Danny Griffin at 774-836-6172. I am moving to another Centerville home so I will still be only 8 minutes from Heartbeat! My father, Sam, always told me to live as close to my business as possible and once again he was absolutely right.
We continue with the theme of How to Choose Fabric for a Quilt. Last week’s Blast with the first installment can be found here.
The types of prints mentioned previously are very important because an interesting quilt usually has a variety of prints and different in type and scale. Years ago, quilters did not have the range and diversity of fabrics we have today. Thus, many quilts were all calicoes or all solids. Today’s choices are varied in type and the colors are exquisite. If you are a new quilter or one who wants to gain more confidence in selecting fabrics there are a few basic suggestions:
• Try to select a quilt pattern with 6 or less fabrics
• Decide the colors you want to use (more discussion next week on color)
• Start with a fabric you love the most (the bolt you hug as you walk around my store)
• Select 6 fabrics at one time before analyzing and refining your selection. With only 2-3 fabrics, it is difficult to critique your choices
• Place the bolts in a location away from other fabrics and colors that might influence your present selection (like on the floor, or on a table)
• Stack the fabrics on top of each other so you can see the variation of prints and colors in equal proportion. Squint a little to view the stack.
• Starting with the fabric you dislike the most, try to find a replacement fabric for only that one bolt. Once you select a replacement discard the undesired bolt. You have already decided that the original selection is wrong so get rid of the bolt before you start second guessing yourself!
• Continue the process, replacing bolts with other bolts more to your liking
• Don’t spend time worrying over a small difference in fabric selection. I see customers trying to choose from 2 “pinks”. They are the same color and one has a squiggle towards the left and the second has a squiggle to the right! For me they are the same fabric. That is, they “read’ identical so they are, in effect, the same.
• When you are happy with your selection, STOP THE PROCESS and buy the fabric!!
Don’t ever use a fabric you don’t like. There are too many selections and you should like every quilt you sew. If possible, buy all your fabrics at one time. If you can’t find them all, maybe it’s not your day to choose fabric. For example, other times you can shop for clothing and not be able to find anything suitable. Then sometimes everything looks great, comes in your size, the price is right and you can buy out the store. Recognize when it’s not your day and walk away. Ask for help from your quilt shop professionals. Try to allow at least an hour in the selection process. Next week I will discuss color and value. Hope this week brings you sunshine and time to sew with your friends. Visit Heartbeat soon, in person or on line. We are here to help you.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
August 2, 2010
I promised you a new topic which will span several weeks of Blasts. This is the beginning on my advice on how to select fabric for a quilt. Naturally, I cannot write in detail all the information I give in lectures and classes. This is because I talk fast and don’t type as fast!
In quilting I suggest only 100% cotton. There are many, many different cottons on the market today. So some will feel silkier or rougher than others. Most of the cotton is imported from China by manufacturers. There are industry standards as to the thread count etc. The base goods (called “griege goods”) however, do often vary within each manufacturer’s orders and also from company to company. The printing is mostly done in Korea these days. Often, the same prints on a reprinting of a line are on different base fabric. You, the customer, may or may not notice the difference. Often, one of the reasons you notice a difference in chain or discount store fabric, is that it may be printed on less expensive base cotton, obviously to reduce the cost. For more detailed information, click onwww.fabrics.net/cotqual.asp.
There are many types of prints to choose from: calicoes, large scale, small scale, stripes, dots, tonals, blenders, solids, viny, and plaids. Some simple definitions of these are:
Calicoes: small prints, often flowers, multi-colored, without much background showing
Large scale prints: large print with multiple colors
Small scale prints: small prints with multiple colors
Stripes: one or more colors, stripe usually printed parallel to the selvage, often the stripes are different widths
Dots: same or different sizes, single or multi-colored, sometimes not perfectly round
Tonals: print that is one color printed on a background of the same color in different shades
Blenders: usually neutral in color (beige, gray, brown) with a small print
Solids: no design in the fabric
Viny: swirling, linear design of one or more colors on a different color background
Plaids: Perpendicular lines, large or small, in two or more colors
Your suggested “homework” is to pull one or more fabrics from your stash in each category. Next Monday will have more detail on the above!
This week come to the store on your way to, or on your way back from the Bayberry Quilt Show in Harwich, Ma. We will have a guest demonstrator, free to you, along with some refreshments! See you then.
In quilting I suggest only 100% cotton. There are many, many different cottons on the market today. So some will feel silkier or rougher than others. Most of the cotton is imported from China by manufacturers. There are industry standards as to the thread count etc. The base goods (called “griege goods”) however, do often vary within each manufacturer’s orders and also from company to company. The printing is mostly done in Korea these days. Often, the same prints on a reprinting of a line are on different base fabric. You, the customer, may or may not notice the difference. Often, one of the reasons you notice a difference in chain or discount store fabric, is that it may be printed on less expensive base cotton, obviously to reduce the cost. For more detailed information, click onwww.fabrics.net/cotqual.asp.
There are many types of prints to choose from: calicoes, large scale, small scale, stripes, dots, tonals, blenders, solids, viny, and plaids. Some simple definitions of these are:
Calicoes: small prints, often flowers, multi-colored, without much background showing
Large scale prints: large print with multiple colors
Small scale prints: small prints with multiple colors
Stripes: one or more colors, stripe usually printed parallel to the selvage, often the stripes are different widths
Dots: same or different sizes, single or multi-colored, sometimes not perfectly round
Tonals: print that is one color printed on a background of the same color in different shades
Blenders: usually neutral in color (beige, gray, brown) with a small print
Solids: no design in the fabric
Viny: swirling, linear design of one or more colors on a different color background
Plaids: Perpendicular lines, large or small, in two or more colors
Your suggested “homework” is to pull one or more fabrics from your stash in each category. Next Monday will have more detail on the above!
This week come to the store on your way to, or on your way back from the Bayberry Quilt Show in Harwich, Ma. We will have a guest demonstrator, free to you, along with some refreshments! See you then.
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