Progress and the Question of Thread

I finished pin basting the fat-quarter quilt today, but rolled it up and set it aside for now (and can already see how much easier this will be to deal with thanks to the light and fairly thin wool batting). I still need to work out the quilting design and am not sure I want to start quilting it right away anyway. That didn't stop my curiosity about what thread I might use. I'm leaning toward the one on the right as it most closely matches the metallic gold tracings in some of the fabrics. But I'll make up a batting sample and try several out before making a final decision.

I went looking for some leaves I'd stitched on a sheer fabric back when I was testing things for the Willow quilt and decided to take one last peak in adjacent bins already searched through for the piping strips my notes in the fat-quarter book (and hazy memory) said I'd planned to use. Hah! I DID find them and indeed, there appear to be the right amount already cut to width but not sewn together yet. Guess I'm going to have to do the piping in the binding after all.

So now that the fat quarter quilt is basted, I feel an antsiness to do something with this that I've been staring at for months and even said would be next up before I succumbed to the fat quarter quilt. I had thought to use both shibori pieces - at one point they looked like they'd work together, but once I'd squared things up and sewn these two piece together, I couldn't figure out a way to make them work together. Being a little less stubborn than normal, I quit fiddling with combinations and set the vertical one aside with a couple of fabrics that may work with it as a separate piece. Then I stepped back to consider what's next and decided maybe it's fine as is. I did try several things along the bottom and side but the balance wasn't right. In fact, I'm thinking I may need to trim just a bit off the top, but I will wait and see what my art group thinks on Monday. As it is, it feels to me like I'm standing on the edge of the water, it sweeping away to the trees on the far bank. The color's a little off here - the hand-dye is more red than it seems in this photo.

I thought the leaves would add something special to the view, attached as if they are floating on the water, but I'm not sure they are the right size. They would be added after the quilting so there's time to decide if I can use them or need to make more.

And yes, I just can't help pulling thread for this one too. I'd been thinking the copper metallic would set the mood I wanted in the water, but gold metallic might be better. The yellow rayon in the center might work too but really, all I want is a hint of sparkle. I may just layer this up and get to quilting the water section before I get feedback on the proper width of the upper section. Really should capitalize on this sudden burst of motivation!