More background musings

In my previous post, I asked about background fabrics for my pickle dish quilt.  Thanks to everyone who responded!  I got quite a variety of opinions, with no clear consensus -- which leads me to think they are all decent choices.  JanineMarie suggested I mock up a larger number of blocks, so I did a (very rough!) copy and paste in Photoshop, and filled in some of my background ideas.

The Aqua Patina from Carrie Bloomston's Paint was one of my early favorites, but looking at it this way, I think it may be too dark for me.  (Of course it is difficult to judge accurately from on-screen images.)

Carrie Bloomston - Paint

I still like Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms print too, although it may be too bright if this image is accurate:

Amy Butler - Soul Blossoms

 

I haven't given up on this BasicGrey fabric either, although it will be months before it will be available (it will be months before I get all those arcs assembled too!):

 

BasicGrey - Fresh Cut



But I am starting to think about other options.  My daugher and I happened to go on a small road trip last weekend.  We were able to drop into a couple of quilt shops, but I didn't find any of the fabrics on my short list.  We did find one that looked really good in the shop next to my arcs, but the mock-up tells me this is not the look I am hoping for.

Beth Studley - Henna Medallion

 

 

One of the shops had some Cotton + Steel fabrics.  I liked the mint color in a few of the fabrics, but none of the prints in their stock seemed suitable.  After I got home I found the Moonlit Arrows and thought that might work.  I do like this one, but I'd prefer a print with a less regular pattern.  I like that the cream breaks up the mint and helps it read lighter.

 



 Rashida Coleman Hale - Moonlit

I stopped in one of our local shops too, and found a couple of fabrics in just the colors I was hoping to find, but one print was too busy and the other too plain.  Both were from Moda's Spring House collection by Stephanie Ryan.  At home I did an online search for this line, and found another print from the collection that I'm liking a lot.  I think I can trust the colors since I've seen the companion fabrics in the store, and I like the randomness of the design and that the cream helps lighten it.  I just don't know how well I've represented the scale in my mock-up.  This one is getting hard to find, but there are a few online shops that have it in stock -- and a couple even have it on sale.

Stephanie Ryan - Spring House Blossom

 

I've also found a number of mottled near-solids that might work as a lighter alternative to the Carrie Bloomston above.  There's Moda Grunge Basics in Aqua, Spring House Wave, Marcia Derse's Pallette, and others.  These are all pretty similar, so I'm only showing one below.  To make the best choice between them would probably require seeing the fabrics in person.

 



Marcia Derse - Pallette

As you can see, I'm leaning towards mint green.  But here are a couple of other options that stay with the pink and blue:

Sarah Jane - Wee Wander, Meandering in Seafoam

Sarah Jane - Wee Wander, Meandering in Petal

I've got plenty of time before I will need the background fabric, but I know fabrics don't stay in stock forever.  I believe there are four or five among the above selections that I would be happy with, though.

In the meantime, I'm putting the finishing touches on another quilt.  I hope to have photos of that quilt to share soon.

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WiP Wednesday.