Looking for threads to use in the stash, I found a bunch of pinks, a blue-gray mélange with green, and some reddish brown. Not enough, I say, so I visited Laura Wasilowski's website artfabrik.com to order handpainted threads. This stuff is so beautiful and tempting! I had bought a little at the International Quilt Festival several years ago ("rhubarb" and "burnt marshmallow"), but browsing through the goodies, I clearly needed more. Now I can't wait till it comes. Getting stuff in the mail that you've ordered online is like getting presents; always seems a little unexpected and delightful, and because the bill comes later, it doesn't feel expensive somehow. Now, I understand that this can be a dangerous self-delusion, susceptible to exploitation by online vendors. But I've met Laura, and she doesn't seem all that rapacious to me. Plus, her website has great embroidery instructions.
I had backing fabric, but it was just a bit too small, so I bordered it with strips torn from one of our old dyeing dropcloths. This one was mostly pinkish with splotches of blue and brown. Perfect for this quilt! I'm beginning to think I have found a voice, and it has to do with innate messiness. Wabi-sabi if you will. Enjoying the unexpected, things that aren't quite the right size or don't come out the way they were planned. Life is like that, isn't it? Mine is, anyway.