Asking Advice from the Experts...That Means You.

Ok. The pieces are cut. I think I'm going to go with this barn wood fabric that arrived while we were away  delivering mares to Texas. It was a fast, but good, trip as we were able to spend some time with the cutest niece and nephews and a very cool BIL.

Can you believe that I was surrounded by quilt shops and didn't even peek inside one of them? I know. I'm a sad excuse for a quilter. How many demerits does that earn me? I knew if I even got a wiff of fabric, I would end up bringing some home and honestly, I already have a problem. Its called a stash and it is really beginning to take over. Besides, I had a box waiting for me when I came home. ;)

DH was quite interested in something he spotted on the side of the road and he made me scale the fence and take a photo. Generally scaling a fence line is breaking one of the cardinal rules of being a Texan, but in this case the owners are fine with it. So he made me pose on the side of the road in the biting, cold , windy morning with the sun in my eyes in traveling-in-the-ranch-truck clothes.

I tried to tell him that he needs to take 10 or 12 pictures in order to get anything decent, but he was having none of that. One click and I had better hop that barbwire pronto or I may lose my ride. :)
 Makes for an awful picture, but the deer skull is cool. Its made out of metal and a lot of work went into it. DH welds and really appreciates the skill it took to make something like this accurately. Yes, we are rednecks. Jeff Foxworthy would be proud.

We stopped to grab a bite to eat at the last little town before hitting the ranch. This murial is right next to the little place we ate and I thought of y'all when I saw it. I can't paint my way out of a bucket so I am pretty impressed with people who can wield a paintbrush and make it look like this. Yes, the sky really is that blue out here.

Now, I am ready to sew this top together. I like the gray tone in this fabric and wish I had an entire bolt. I don't have any gray in the squares so I think it stands out enough. I really like the richness of it, but I wondered if it was too dark so on a whim, I flipped it over and I like the backside too. It looks more washed out. So tell me, which one should I choose?

The difference is more subtle in the photos for some reason. Light?

Or dark? The right side is actually darker than this.

Here's half and half. LOL.

I'm leaning towards the dark...or not. Sigh. I am so indecisive and its ridiculous. This is not rocket science however, your input would be greatly appreciated. Looking at the photos, there doesn't seem to be that big of a difference.  I'm playing with the thought of adding black piping to the star to define it more. I hope it works or I'll have an awful lot of black piping lying around! I'm actually kind of excited about adding the piping. Alas, it'll have to wait until another trip to town. I plan to hitch a ride if DH has to run in for anything.