Good-quality material for the quilter is highly advisable to use, because when it comes to quilting, quality really does matter when choosing materials.

Fading color can be a problem when you resort to using anything else but good-quality fabric. You may end up at a loss once you begin working with an inferior fabric, but short of throwing out what you’ve sewn and starting over, you’re stuck with the fabrics you chose.

You won’t regret it if you stick with natural fibers for all parts of your quilt’s outer shell, because you’ll find that the fabric is easy to handle and maintain, and it’s widely available. Man-made fabrics tend to gather when sewn into a quilt, and their complete appearance can become something less than perfect.

Your tones will play a strong role in the overall appearance of your quilt, and it’s a good idea to seek out tones of quilting fabric that won’t look awkward when they are placed next to each other. When you’re choosing fabric by the yard, think about color relationships and choose colors that all come from the same palette and perhaps echo your favorite colors from the environment. Grouping colors by their basic characteristics is a must for quilters who want their finished quilt to be soft and gentle (corals, pastels) or bold, brilliant articulations (dark earth tones, hot reds and oranges), or something in between.

Fabric colors can hoodwink your eyes, and you’ll notice that one swatch of color seems to be completely different when it’s stitched together with fabrics of contrasting shades. The solution is simply visiting a stationery store and purchasing a translucent red business cover, through which you will view slices of the fabric you plan to use.

With a red filter over your fabrics, you can understand how dark or light each color really appears because the plastic screens out tones and hues, which can fool the eye when comparing different colors. You’ll see right away if your fabric color choices are going to be well-balanced together or whether they will clash and create unwieldy combinations.

Choosing patterns usually means deciding upon not only color but the size of each pattern that you choose, because that will have a sizeable effect on the quilt’s overall look regarding regularity and harmony. Using a variety of contrasting sized patterns or simply employing only small patterns are two means to create an even, well-constructed design that will make you proud.

Visual harmony can be thwarted if you pick a big pattern to go with much smaller ones, because the lop-sidedness of two widely varying patterns will create an awkward, unbalanced sensation to your quilt. Start out with moderate size pieces of fabric and stitch together just one portion of your design so that you can get a feel for how it will look.

Let your eyes be the judge as you examine the color and pattern combinations, and when you are satisfied with both, begin to sew that quilt you have designed.