Hello! It's Sherri from A Quilting Life here today to talk Bella solids! I thought I'd start out with some Bella solids that coordinate well with a few lines that are available in shops this month--Noteworthy by Sweetwater, Posy by Aneela Hoey, and Honey Honey by Kate Spain!

Keep reading through to the end of the post for some Bella solids tips and ideas from Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Company. She graciously agreed to share some of her thoughts on Bella solids--I'll share a couple of her ideas today and a few in my next Bella post!

First up: Noteworthy! This is such a fun line...it coordinates well with the previous Sweetwater collection Lucy's Crab Shack if you still have some of that around! My favorite background to use with this collection is Bella Snow (9900 11). Some other Bella solids that coordinate wonderfully with Noteworthy are Amelia Apricot (9900 162), Buttercup, (9900 51), Hometown Sky (9900177), Pink (9900 61), and Pistachio (9900 134).

There are also some wonderful Bella solids you can mix in to add sparkle to your Posy projects: first, Bleached White (9900 97) is a terrific background and White (9900 98) also works great.Fun coordinating colors are: Fuchsia (9900 190), Amelia Pink (9900 166),  Green (9900 65), Peony (990091), and Tea Rose (9900 89). 

For the Honey Honey collection, my favorite light background choice is  the Bella White (9900 98) although the Bleached White (9900 97) is another great choice. And Honey Honey has some fun coordinates as well: Amelia Orange (9900 161), Amelia Pink (9900 166), Fuchsia (9900 190), Bluebell (9900 141), Peony (9900 91), and Surf (9900 193). You might have noticed that a few of the Bella colors I listed for Posy were repeated in my Honey Honey list--yes, the pinks in both of these collections play really well together and would work wonderfully together in your projects!

Now, I want to leave you with a couple of ideas from Carrie Nelson who has some terrific organizational tips today. First she says that, "Everything gets labeled as soon as it comes in the door--as it is being taken out of the box. To label the pieces, I do two things. First, I use a Sharpie to write the color and name on the selvage directly. Then I use a safety pin to attach a small tag to the yardage. This means that if the tag comes off, the fabric is still identified."

Carrie also mentioned her terrific idea for choosing Bella solids. She says that she has been building a large swatch ring which really makes it easy when trying to pick multiple colors or pull colors to go with other fabrics. Carrie said, "For older pieces/colors, I cut a 5" x 5" square, but for the past couple of years, a charm pack of the "NEW" Bellas works perfectly. One square of each color is stapled to a little cardstock tag with the number and color name. I keep the tags on a ring grouped by color... but not in any particular order." 

I loved this idea...thanks so much Carrie (and thanks also for the photo of the swatch ring shown below)!

Well, thanks so much for stopping by today! I'll be back at the end of the month with another Bella Solids post with ideas from a few Designers who will share their favorite Bella solids...the ones they can't live without!  Have a great day!