Making a quilt #1: choosing fabric

This week will be dedicated to showing how a quilt is made. Since I took The Process Pledge, I have not yet had the ocasion of sharing the steps that lead to finished quilt. Starting today, I will post brief explanations and my personal options on the making of a quilt.
For me, it all starts with fabric. I pick up a few prints that (for some misterious reason) seem appealing at that particular moment and I try to imagine how to use them. Naturally, I buy a lot of fabric, particularly from USA suppliers. I am a great fan of American 100% cotton prints. Quilting seems to be a national hobby there!
These gorgeous fabrics have just arrived and I am very excited to work with these great prints from the most talented textile designers such as Kaffe Fasset, Amy Butler and Tina Givens. I also get nervous about cutting into them, so sometimes it takes a while until I decide on pattern and size. The first thing I do is to machine wash all new fabric in a gentle cycle with mild detergent, dry, iron and fold neatly. This is necessary because all fabric is prone to some level of shrinking. Also, it's better to check color bleeding at this point so you don't get nasty surprises later.
Alternatively you can recycle fabric: those flowery bedsheets that your mother in law gave you back in 1979, your oldfashioned dress, your husband's shirts (whether you ask him or not beforehand is up to you but I know some people don't appreciate their clothes turning up in a quilt without warning!).  
Get some motivation too: the new baby in the family, your best friend is getting married, your sister is moving away to another country. Think how much they would enjoy something handmade by you...
So that's all for today, pick up your favorite prints and we're ready to start!