citrus season, a finish

"citrus season" is a finish! 

well, it still needs a few threads buried (there were a whole lot) and a wash, but that'll happen shortly when we get home.

ever since i started this quilt, i've wanted to photograph it with my own mini citrus orchard at home. but here we are with it all finished up and a lovely lemon orchard about 20 minutes from our rental in malibu. i think it worked out nicely.

d5 and i were going inland one last time before we leave and i brought along two quilts to photograph in the beautiful farm settings just down the coast and around the mountains.

we had a lot of wind, which makes shooting so hard. but the spot was nice. i've passed this orchard several times in the last 6 weeks and knew i wanted to bring this quilt here when it was done. the lemons were ripe and the blossoms just starting.

d5 said it smelled like our backyard at home when we got in among the trees. my sniffer isn't as keen as hers, but i did get a whiff of the blossoms periodically and there's no better scent in the world. there were ripe lemons scattered on the ground everywhere, which made cheerful pops of color in person (less visible in the photos). d5 told me to get them in the pictures and i did try.

this quilt is a healthy 60"x72" size, which can be quite hard to hold up, especially for two gals sized 5'5'' and 5'3". add in the wind and shifting sun for a challenge. i think they turned out nicely. 

lemon tree very pretty

and the lemon flower is sweet

but the fruit of the poor lemon

is impossible to eat

well, that's what honey and sugar are for. i love that old peter, paul, and mary song! it goes deep into my childhood. but i never bought into the idea that love was like a lemon. and my grandson loves to eat lemons, so i guess not everyone agrees about the fruit's impossibility, either.

here's a closer look at the echo quilting i did on all the major seams to form an on-point (diamond) grid pattern. i really like the big stitch effect of using thick, chunky auriful 12wt thread on these giant star quilts. it adds a little texture and depth to an otherwise simple quilt.

this quilt rings more orange than lemon, but we took what we could get and i love it.

this was a fun mini adventure for us two. i think d5 is always going to remember our quilt shoots together. she's not always eager or excited, but she does get into it and has some great ideas for me sometimes. 

because of the side of the orchard i parked on, we had to hop this steep dirt ditch to get to the trees. nimble rock climber that she is, d5 had no problems. i was ... less nimble, but i made it. getting back across was harder! oh, the things we do for our quilt photos.

details

size: 60" x 72"

fabrics: kona and moda solids for the top, stash prints for the backing

pattern: stella grande, my design, with piano key border

machine quilting: echo quilting of seams in grid pattern in auriful 12wt, 2021

binding: moda bella solids in clementine

*click links to see details up close