A long awaited wedding quilt

It’s time to play catch up around here.  I’ve been out of town for the last week and a half for one of the best reasons: weddings!  My sister got married on the 18th, and then my brother-in-law on the 25th.  So it’s been a very busy last little while, and I haven’t sewn anything for about two weeks, which is a long time for me!  I have some unpacking left to do, and then I can hopefully sew some more tomorrow.

Before I left, I finished the wedding quilt that I was making for my sister.  I sewed on it every night, and in every spare moment, and I got it done.  A member of my local guild stepped up and quilted it for me in record time.  She did an amazing job, and I’m so very thankful that she was willing and able to take on such a large, last minute project.  The quilting she did ties the whole quilt together in such a wonderful way.

I’ll start with some closeups, so you can see the lovely leaf motif that she used.

I took these photos in my in-laws’ backyard, which is where we all stayed for the duration of our trip.  The light is lovely there, but the sun fell behind the mountains just as started taking photos, so some of them are a little darker than I’d like.  I had to give it away the next day though, so there was no chance for reshoots.

Here’s the back.  I absolutely love it.  The solid blue has just the right intensity, and I used what was left of the original fabric for the centre.  I would have put this on my bed just like this, quite frankly.  I used black for the binding, and am thrilled with the choice.  I auditioned blue and green as well, but black was just so far above them that there really was no contest.

And there it is, in all its glory.  I named it, ‘The Tree’.  The unusual borders and bottom are a case of necessity is the mother of invention.  I had no more blocks left, and the quilt was supposed to be queen sized, so it grew into the border and took it over a little.  Then it wasn’t wide enough, and I had no more solid green, so I cut 2.5″ strips of the original fabric and put strips of them on the sides.  In the end, I love it more than I thought I would, especially for a quilt with no red in it. 😉

Here’s one last parting shot.  It’s a little yellow here, because of the golden light.  My sister loves it, as does her new husband.  I’m glad that I pushed myself to get it done, and the fact that I think it turned out spectacularly is just an added bonus.  Now, on to the next deadline!  If it wasn’t for deadlines, sometimes I doubt that I would ever have the motivation to finish anything.

And even though it’s actually completed and no longer a work-in-progress, I’m sharing at the Needle and Thread Network anyway.  I hope they don’t kick me out of the club. 🙂