citrus and overcast

sometimes i glance at my notions and supplies and think, "what a lovely still life." ordinary, everyday objects can have beauty to them to, whether it's their form or colors, or what they represent. this small gathering of bits to aid my binding and thread burying makes me smile.

so does the back of this quilt. at the moment, i'm in a prints mood, so as much as i like the front, it's the back i prefer and have been reveling in. i fully plan to make some sort of companion quilt for "citrus season" out of the prints i used for the backing. a stella grande with the star from the prints and the solids on the back? i think something more intricate where the fabrics mix more is where i'm headed.

i have a few more companion quilts (here and here)for other projects already in the works that i need to finish, but i'm certainly thinking about where to go with these fabrics.

overcast today, not as sunny as photo looks

once i got going on this binding, i made myself stick to it. yes, there were a few internet breaks, but not too many. i put my current audible listen on - mel robbin's let them (it's thought-provoking, interesting, and entertaining), which helped me stay at the task to the end.

i am low-key regretting my thread choice for this binding. i sew almost exclusively with neutral threads. it simplifies my quilt life a lot. matching threads are great and all, but they take more time and more supplies when using this technique. quite often i piece in white no matter what colors i'm putting together. i rarely find it shows or shows enough to be an issue. however, i so think this is a time when i 

might have some pesky, less-than-perfect stitches showing in the binding on occasion. i did look through my threads for one that might be a better fit with the deep orange binding or at least the backing colors. i had nothing so just went with the standard white i had on hand, aurifil 2021. oh, well. it's probably nothing a good wash and some crinkly won't hide.

i finally got it done! i have an idea where to shoot the finish photos and then i'll share the full finish (even though you've basically seen it all by now; this one is well documented lately).

blogging side note - i've been researching software and such. shannon fraser mentioned she uses prequilt for making quilt mockups (and she has a discount code). that's intriguing, but i'm more a sketchbook pen-and-paper planner, still. but i made a mental note if it's something i could use later.

 i got a little smart and asked my IG friend jennifer of penelope handmade what programs she used to make her graphics for her cutting and piecing instructions in her blog tutorials. she said she uses adobe illustrator (for mockups) or indesign (for graphics). i'll have to look into both of those.

when i was chatting with her and i typed out the word "graphics" i suddenly had a flashback to all the school projects i edited for d2 when she was working on her degree in technical writing, minor in graphic design. holy cow, i felt like smacking my forehead. she's the exact person i should be talking to for all this stuff! too bad she's at language school in tokyo at the moment or i'd put her to work. she could polish this site up in no time and do a number on my jumbled tutorials and patterns i've written for this blog. she literally majored in how to clearly and concisely convey instructional information. maybe we'll start a little pattern design business together someday where i do the designs and she makes them readable and presentable. (i'm only dreaming, of course.)