Sunday, February 17, 2013

Frane Wedding Quilt!

I'm finally able to show off my sister's wedding quilt! I actually have a few projects that are safely with their new owners, and now ready to share. Unfortunately, I'm also consumed with getting ready for QuiltCon!
I started this quilt by designing the front. My sister designed her own invitations, and she had told me that she would like to carry the scallop design over to the quilt. Ultimately she gave me free reign (which I hope she isn't regretting!!). My initial idea was to keep it really simple with about 1/4 of the quilt being bright pink, the other 3/4 being dark blue, and joining the two colors with a scallop. Next I decided to throw in a bit of grey...I started with a solid, but ultimately decided to use a print from Bella. My next idea was to piece some wedding-ish words into the dark blue space. I carefully thought of 7 words, pieced them, and then couldn't find an arrangement that I was satisfied with! As you can see, I kept just one word on the front of the quilt.

Frane Wedding Quilt

My sister and I brainstormed a lot on how to incorporate the wedding guests' signatures into the quilt back. She liked the idea of the signatures being a part of the quilt, but not in a traditional signature quilt style. I ended up paper piecing blocks of letters, numbers and hearts (which would later spell out their last name and wedding date) using freezer paper as a foundation. I took the individually pieced blocks with to the wedding, where we asked the guests to sign them. Most of the guests also chose to include a short message, which made it even sweeter!
When I had all of the blocks back home, I started to think about how to arrange them. The back design came together really easily, and it seemed perfect to use the abandoned words from the quilt front on the back!

Frane Wedding Quilt

I really liked how the back turned out, but I was struggling with the quilt front. I couldn't decide if it was too simple? Was something a bit off? Eventually I decided that what it needed what a healthy dose of free motion quilting, so I (ehem, painstakingly) quilted free motion flowers on the whole quilt. (I found this design in Angela Walter's book - I highly recommend it!!)

Frane Wedding Quilt

I used a dark grey thread (Aurifil, # 2625 Pigeon) on top and a lighter grey (Aurifil, #2615 Pearl Grey) on the back, so as to keep the signatures and messages readable. I really love how the grey looked on the pink!
Here you can see the signatures on the quilt back, and a close up of the quilting:

Frane Wedding Quilt

The quilting design got easier as I went along, although I still need lots of practice!

Frane Wedding Quilt

In the end, I do love how the quilt turned out. I hope my sister and her husband love it, too, and use it often!

Quilt stats:
Size: Approximately 60" x 80"
Fabric: Michael Miller Cotton Couture Solids in Magenta, Indigo, Bright White, and Denim - These solids are SO soft! And the color range is great!
Thread: Aurifil!
Special tools used: Quick Curve Ruler for the scallops

10 comments:

Sarah said...

That Free Motion pattern in amazing. Great job!! I hope you take lots of pictures of Quilt con and blog it!! Have fun!

Laura C @ littleandlots said...

I think the simple front looks so clean and modern, with the vertical scallop, color blocking, and just one word. But your FMQ takes it over the top! A lovely heirloom.

Deb said...

I LOVE it all, especially the quilting! How could your sister not treasure this?! It's wonderful!

Carla said...

WOW! Fabulous!

Charlotte said...

what a lovely idea to include messages from the guests! It really is beautiful and will become an heirloom, I'm sure!

Sarah said...

The quilt is amazing! Your fmq looks really good. Great job.

Marla said...

What a fun wedding quilt. From afar it looks like you used a flowery print. When I found out it was your FMQ I was aghast!

Lynette said...

Very nice - there's no way they won't cherish this wonderful gift!

Pat said...

What a wonderful heirloom you have created.

mandalei said...

Those flowers just look so good--they look like a fabric, themselves! I keep coming back to look at these.