Saturday, December 23, 2017
How Does One Collect A Perfect Palette Of Fabric?
I shared my fabric Palette on my blog yesterday.
I got this comment from a reader:
Wow, I'm impressed, Kay. Not solely by the amount or organization, but the variety. I work hard to have the range you have achieved, yet some how I have an abundance of blues and greens and paucity of yellows and neutrals. Your neutral section is outstanding.
I sent her this explanation of how I amassed this perfect palette:
It has taken me a long time to collect this variety of fabrics. I DO remember the 80’s when I had my fabrics stored in Xerox paper boxes, not knowing what I had. When I moved to my studio I found I had 4 full boxes of blues…because that was what was available. I have carefully pared that down.
The secret is buying what is being produced at a particular time even if you don’t need it right then.
Never buy a fabric that does the same job as one you already have in your collection.
Not only do I have a ranges of different colors, but if you study this you will see I have a wide range of values, from light to dark.
I also have concentrated on having a value range of what are thought of as neutrals: black, gray, and brown.
This collection is not just prints. I have an extensive amount of solids as the solids produced at any one time are so similar. So I realized I had to purchase those also when they were available before next year when they all were shaded quite differently.
I even have a collection of novelty prints, border prints, stripes and designer prints.
I can not recall any time in the past 10- 15 or more years that I could not find what I needed to create a vision from the fabrics I own.
This has allowed me to save time as I don’t have to spend hours or days searching for a fabric in stores or online only to find out it is not available at this time.
I want everyone to realize that these ideas can be used with a much smaller collection of fabrics.
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3 comments:
some great information you have given us! thanks so much!
Sound advise for any quilter, Kay! Thanks for sharing your methodology.
Never thought about not buying anything if I have something that can already do the job. Good advice!
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