A Wedding Signature Quilt

I haven't been doing much sewing lately. I have two babies under 2 that keep me very busy. But I had to dust off my sewing machine for this special occasion.

My husband's youngest brother recently got married and my gift to them was a guestbook quilt. I tossed around quite a few patterns in my mind but I finally decided on a pattern by Thimble Blossoms. I got the idea for using the labels on the back from another quilter. I thought it would make for a great reversible quilt.

Photo by Marion McClellan

Photo by Marion McClellan

Quilted by Marion McClellan of My Quilt Diet
Pattern: On A Whim by Thimble Blossoms
DMC # 3802
Fabric:

• Hazel Plum by Fig Tree & Co. for Moda
• Glimmer solids in Champagne by Cloud 9 Fabrics
• Bella solids in Fig Tree Cream by Moda
• Quilter's Linen in Smoke by Robert Kaufman
• Souvenir Labels in Pearl (#13740-11) by French General for Moda

Wedding Tree Quilt

A couple at my church recently tied the knot and of course, I wanted to sew a quilt for them. Being an avid pinner, I saw some really neat quilts that were made to look like carved initials on a tree. Here is my inspiration:

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Neat right? I've never seen anything like it before. The hardest part was picking out the backing fabric. The wedding colors were purple and silver, which is a hard combination to find in fabric at the moment, but their invitations were silver and yellow. Perfect! That color combo is everywhere. So I waited until the right fabric came along and snatched it up along with a purple fat quarter and a grey/white polka dot for the binding.

There wasn't any tutorials or instructions out there, but to be honest you don't need any. It's a very organic and flowing stitch pattern. I just sketched it out directly on the fabric with a water soluble pencil after I appliqued the hearts.

Yep, I said hearts. :) I did something different from the inspiration quilts, I had 2 hearts. I did their initials and wedding date on the front and then added a Scripture verse on the back using the purple fabric. For the front heart I simply stitched a bunch of lines around the perimeter of the heart, leaving the edges raw. I was going for that rugged/hand carved look and after a few washes the edges should fray beautifully to achieve it. For the back heart I did a traditional zig zag stitch to applique it. A bit more of a polished look befitting the Scripture verse.

After a little wiggling to get everything lined up it came together beautifully. Only downside was that my 'good' machine (ie the one with all the tools for quilting) busted so I ended up pulling an all nighter on my other machine to get it done. I literally started it after 9pm and finished at 8:30am - the day of the wedding! But it was sooo worth it, they loved it and that's the most important part of any handmade gift.  I just wish I remembered the take a photo of the quilt prior to giving it to them. :)

The front

The back & the newlyweds :)