How to Get Out of a Color Choice Rut

Here is something we hear at the shop at least once a week - "I'm no good with color."  Choosing colors can be daunting for some at the best of times, but what about when we get stuck and don't know what direction to go at all?  There's little more frustrating than having a pattern you really want to try but being at a total loss as to what to put in it, or just not feeling excited about the colors you've got.  Sometimes we really want to think our first choice will be the best choice, but that's not always the case.  Dead ends happen to the best of us no matter where we are in our quilting journeys.  Here's a few tricks to try to get out of that color choice rut.     

What's Your Favorite Color?
Here's an easy one - start with your favorite color!  It's hard to get excited about a project when you're working in colors you don't love.  Sometimes it's unavoidable - we have to get a project done in someone else's colors who may have a wildly different palette than what we like.  I know I've made a few baby quilts that really made me go ho-hum, and I can honestly say though small, they were a struggle to get through.  I just couldn't get excited about the colors in front of me.  But starting with your favorite color as a focus is a great way to start off on the right foot.  Root through your stash to find a focus piece in your favorite color, and go from there.  This is a great time to dust off the ol' color wheel to see what some good contrasting colors might be.

Start with a Print
Maybe you aren't the kind of quilter that frames projects in terms of color.  Maybe you're more about prints and patterns.  Honestly, it's not much different than seeking out a favorite color.  Choose your focus print or border print first, and use it as a tool to pick the rest of our colors from.  Be attentive to the dominating color and the various lights and darks.  The selvedge shows the colors used in a particular print and can be a great reference to choose colors from.  But remember - they don't need to be exact matches!  There's a time and place for exact matches, but especially with busy prints, often close enough is good enough.  Consider the fact that fabrics will be cut down to a smaller size, and your colors will be separated in different places.  Some colors will never actually touch in a quilt, so you can get away with "close enough" without issue (and a whole lot less stress). 

Check Out Color Stories That Convey a Feeling
What if you don't have a particular color or print in mind?  What if you're looking for a vibe instead?  Looking at color stories online can be a perfect starting point to getting to the feel you're looking for.  This method can be used for any quilt style but is especially helpful for choosing a color palette for art quilts.  A lot of the major paint manufacturers, surprisingly enough, have color story pages you can look through - here's a great example from Fusion Mineral Paint. These colors can translate easily into fabric and into a quilt.  

Use a Reference Photo
Think of your favorite picture.  What is it that you like about it?  Often people will think about the subject of the photo, but there's more to that picture than that!  Consider the colors in the photo drawing you in.  You can absolutely build a palette from a picture.  Check out Coolors to upload a picture and tweak your own palette, or head to Canva's Color Palette Resource to see some pre-made palettes (or to search for your own).  You might also start saving pictures when you stop and marvel at how pretty it is to use as color inspiration for later.  

Find Inspiration in Music
Sometimes we find inspiration in some unlikely places...like hearing a song, and having a color way pop into your head!  This happened to me the other day - I'll share a little more in an upcoming post - but a song from one of my favorite bands filled my mind with images of growth and spring as I struggled to choose fabrics for a new project.  Before I knew it, I had pulled everything I needed from my stash.  If you would have told me at the start that a particular song would have inspired the colors of my quilt, I would have said "yeah, sure." Whelp...cut to me eating my hat, because that's what happened.  So if you are super, super stuck, through on some tunes and give them a good, close listen.  You never know what will come up!

Fashion & Wedding Trends
When in doubt, the fashion world is a reliable resource for colorways that are on the rise and that have been popular in past years.  Look up Fashion Week and take note of the colors.  Every time the high end designers put out their lines for the seasons, you'll see a definite color trend and color pairings.  Likewise with weddings - certain color pairings for weddings go in and out of style.  A few years ago, peach, mint, and gold were the thing.  They may not be the in thing now, but if you like peachy tones then maybe that's a pairing to explore!  

Consider Pre-Cuts
If all else fails, let the manufacturers lead the way.  When they put out fabric lines they often have some kind of pre-cut offering.  Choose a line where you like the colors, and grab a pre-cut.  Other than maybe a background piece, the colors are done for you!  That's the great thing about the lines...if you don't want to have to choose a ton of go-withs, you don't have to.  Pre-cuts are a great solution for those scenarios.  

Monochrome - Always in Style
Monochrome, in both fashion and in quilts, is a classic that simply never goes out of style.  Rather than focusing on a variety of colors, you choose one color and then work in its various tones, tints, and shades.  With Monochrome, it's all about value instead of color.  Working in values presents its own challenges, but you only have a single color to worry about.  If you struggle with discerning values (we all have those moments!) using a red lens or taking a grey scale picture on your cell phone can really help to suss out those tricky shades.        

When in Doubt, Walk Away
At the end of the day, sometimes the best thing to do is walk away and take some time.  Sometimes when we sit there and stare down colors we're not wild about and spend exhaustive time trying to force a color scheme to emerge, it's not actually going to get us anywhere.  We get frustrated, our brains get tired of dealing with it, and we're just over it.  At that point, there's no reason to keep at it. Come back in a little bit or the next day and look at what you have with fresh eyes and a fresh mindset.  Maybe you come back and you love what you have!  And then again, maybe not, but after a little time away you'll be reinvigorated to get back in it and find another colorway that works better.  

What tips do you have to help with choosing colors and getting yourself unstuck?  Let us know in the comments!