Renata, I love your colours as well! I was wondering how it would look in red & white, and there you are answering my question!

Thank you so much and to the others who commented. Your kind words are so encouraging. When I finished the paint job, I liked it, but then thought about how the fabric selection could make or break the design and I am not very good at imagining the end result. So today I went fabric searching (as a beginner, I don't have much of a stash yet) and started playing around with swatches. I believe Margo spoke in a recent email to someone about color values and I am taking those comments to heart. In any event, what a huge learning experience this will be but the fact that it is a BOM will keep me focused on finite tasks and learning objectives; and knowing there is a lot of help on the Forum has really allowed me to "dive in" without reservation. Comments several people made, including Rita and SpiritFold(?) to Maggie(?) who was concerned with focus, resonated so clearly with me as well.
Renata

Renata your attachment took my breath away.

Margo wrote:
Okay, so there are 24 yards of fabric, double it, and add one yard and I come to 49 yards. Heck, I might as well round it off to 50 yards, right? I think that should just about do it. (I can see Sara now, cringing as we are posting this!) But, you gotta laugh! You either have to be brave and overbuy your fabric, (if you are doing your own color scheme) or play it safe and go with one of Sara's. I guess I like to live dangerously: I'm going out on my own!

Dawn
In beautiful Northwest Montana

Love your version, Dawn! Just go with John Flynn's formula for calculating yardage so that you don't run out.

He says to mathematically figure exactly how much you need, double it and add a yard!

(I wish!)

Actually, the directions I emailed Debbie were those of Renata's. Thank you again, Renata! And, I must say, your Paint picture looks MUCH better than mine! Renata, your quilt is awesome! I really like it! I am having the same problem with figuring out how much fabric I need of each color. I don't want a scrappy look, so this IS a problem. We just need to figure out what % of the quilt is taken up with each color of fabric. We know there is a total of around 24 yards of fabric, and go from there.

Dawn
In beautiful Northwest Montana

Renata,

I really like the red & creams. I've been thinking of doing mine in blacks, grays,red (or maybe yellows), white/cream. Using Dawn's directions, I'm going to play with it in Paint to see how it looks. I am enjoying seeing everyone's color choices. There will be some beautiful Sedona Star's next year!!!

That's exactly what I'm planning to do with my BOM quilt -- make it scrappy following my chosen colors. That also will allow me to adjust the colors in the later steps if I change my mind after seeing how the earlier steps are going. And I think (hope?) the scrappiness will make the quilt sparkle even more!

Nancy

Renata wrote: I have absolutely no idea how to calculate the required yardage for your great colourway, but the idea strikes me that it could work if you use lots of different creams and lots of different reds of the sameish shade, and if you start using different reds from the centre, then it won't look so odd if you need to mix them up when you get to the outer borders, because you ran out and had to get some more. Isn't this the sort of thing that Jinny Beyer does?

After five tries with different ideas, I think I like this one. But now I really need help! Absent templates or further instructions since this is a BOM, is there any rule of thumb way of calculating fabric requirements, especially when the number of fabrics are different from the BOM? Renata

Love the colours mellymoo looks stunning

snelson61 wrote:
I can understand that! Once a person changes the colors, (and I changed mine a LOT!) they have to figure out how much fabric in each color, they really need. That could wind up being even more costly! But, what fun! I've been searching for the best prices on batiks! I can get 20% off of one shopping spree during my birthday month at my favorite LQS. So, it looks like I won't be starting this one until March! Probably a good thing! I need to work on THIS year's BOM! lol

Dawn
In beautiful Northwest Montana

Scoppie, Mine did the same thing, so I kinda gave up on coloring it with paint. Still debating on if I want to do my own colors or choose one of the other options?? I guess it all comes down to money.

Mellymoo, your Paint is great! For some reason my Paint does does not flow into as many nooks and crannies as yours did. And, it is impossible to get it into those really small log cabin strips of the center star. But, I spent the whole day coloring mine and am SUPER happy with it. I used the bucket for the most part, and will go back in today with a paint brush for some of the tighter areas.

Dawn
In beautiful Northwest Montana