Color My World Wednesday

Do you ever struggle to find just the right color combination for your new quilt project?  Moda's Palette Builder is a great tool that can help you overcome that stumbling block.  I'm so addicted!  It's a tool that you can use to find coordinating Moda Bella Solids, Aurifil Threads, and Hex Values for an image that you upload.  Say you have a fabric you would like to find coordinates for.  I used this new Gardenvale Print as an example:

Simply scan your fabric, load the image into the swatch builder, and voila - recommended colors magically appear, complete with the names of the coordinating solids, threads, or Hex Values!  There are six dots on the picture that you can move around to pull in whichever colors from the image that you like.

In the past, a fun exercise for me has been to pick a palette of Bella Solids I love, then walk around the store looking for prints that match.  This will make it even easier to build a great palette for a quilt.  For added fun, you don't have to limit yourself to building a palette based on fabric swatches!  I am currently getting ready to make a quilt for my parents, who are gardeners extraordinaire, so I found a photo of a Farmer's Market, uploaded it, and moved the dots around until I came up with a combination that looks fun.  Now I'll start looking for fabrics in those colors and hope that the final feel of the quilt will be garden-y.

Head on over to Moda's Blog and Select "Palette Builder" at the top to see for yourself how quick, easy, and FUN this tool really is!

Happy Sewing!

Triple Love Tuesday: Farm Girl Vintage

Today's Triple Love Tuesday Pick is Farm Girl Vintage by Lori Holt:

There are several reasons why I am so in love with this book.  First, the photographs are amazing!  Every page is full of eye candy.  When I browse through its pages, I want to make every single project in the book!  Lori's happy colors and Farm Girl Vintage style are so easy to love.

Second, I love the layout of the book.  The first section is filled with instructions for the Farm Girl Vintage Blocks.  Lori's directions are well organized and easy to follow.  The one comment I've heard from many quilters of all skill levels about all of Lori's patterns is that her directions and the way she puts the blocks together make it easy and fun!

Finally, I love the way the finishing instructions are put together.  Simple and concise cutting and assembly instructions. 

Perhaps the biggest bonus in this area is that not only does the book include instructions for the Sampler quilt, but there are patterns for seven additional quilts and seven "Mix & Match Setting" quilts.  

Simply put, Farm Girl Vintage gives you a lot of bang for your buck!  But be careful, once the book is in your possession, you simply have to start making!  Instead of going to bed like any sensible person would do, I pulled some fabrics from my stash and put together my very first Farm Girl Vintage Block last night...and can't wait to get back down to my sewing room to make more!

Happy Sewing!