Since the recipients of this quilt are about to receive it this afternoon, and they are getting married right before that, I doubt they are happening upon my blog right now and it is safe to share this!
The groom is a long time friend of hubby's and the bride...we just met her last night! So I had little to no information to go on as far as the particular aesthetic preferences of this special lady! A bit scary when trying to dream up a quilt! The couple did not have a registry so I couldn't lurk that either to look for colour and design clues. So I used the wedding invitation as my sole inspiration:
Naturally, I immediately thought of Anna Maria Horner's line Field Study, and put in an order at
Warp & Weft. I bought this
Field Study bundle and then rounded it out with some Field Study from Hawthorne Threads as well. See the peacock feathers? Perfect, right??
(I was so excited yesterday when I saw the peacock feathers also in the centrepieces she was creating, and the turquoise in my husband's tuxedo tie!) Anyways, back to the quilt. I chose Allison of
Cluck Cluck Sew's
Scout pattern. I varied the pattern slightly, alternating the direction of the "feathers". I used Essex Yarn Dyed Linen in Flax for the fabrics between the feathers and Kona Navy for the centres. I also decided to back it with voile and wow, am I glad I did. It is SOOO soft and light!
Then I decided to hand quilt it! Actually I was only going to add a couple of lines of hand stitching and machine quilt the rest... but when I tried adding the machine quilting, it just made those areas ever so slightly stiff. The combination of hand quilting and voile on the back made the whole thing so delightfully "squishy" and I didn't want to lose that. So hand quilted it had to be!!
It actually went quite quickly ~ I finished the whole quilt in 10 days! I used big stitches and Aurifil in a heavy 12 wt. so that made a difference. (I have since purchased little stickers to protect my thimble hating fingers. I'm not going to do that again without a little something!)
I embroidered a label and will be heading to the wedding this afternoon. I just sent off my handsome hubby in his tuxedo:
Squeee! Doesn't he look great? (And doesn't the tie match the quilt perfectly?! Squeee!) And now forgive my overenthusiasm with the photos:
Quilt Stats:
Pattern: Scout by Allison Harris
Fabric: Field Study by Anna Maria Horner, Essex Yarn Dyed in Flax, Kona Navy
Backing: Cocoon Voile by Valori Wells
Thread: Pieced in Aurifil 50 wt colour 2325, hand quilted in Aurifil 12 wt in various colours
Dimensions: 61" by 71"
Batting: Warm and Natural
Completed August 2013
I have scraps of almost each of those fabrics (have made a few projects with them as well) and love that you used them all in one piece! Must make my first quilt...
ReplyDeleteLove it!
ReplyDeleteLucky newlyweds, receiving such a beautiful gift. Your husband is looking very dapper, too!
ReplyDeleteLooks wonderful. A lovely gift. - Jen
ReplyDeleteIt's absolutely beautiful! I can understand that feeling when it turns out exactly as you had hoped or even better. Enjoy the wedding and your good-looking hubby!
ReplyDeleteThis is so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI always have such a weird reaction to Anna Maria Horner fabrics - half the time I don't like her prints (or, probably the better way to say it, I'll only like two or three prints out of the whole line) and then I'll see someone make a quilt using it, and it always looks amazing. Her fabric lines just gel perfectly, don't they?
Your enthusiasm is contagious ! I love everything about your quilt. You did amazing with only the invitation as inspiration. She will be delighted as obviously she loves that colour. Way to go!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful quilt Carla!! Makes me want to get back and finish mine up!! The hand quilting is perfect and I think you did a great job using the invitation as inspiration :)
ReplyDeleteWow, what a very special gift! It is simply gorgeous, Carla!
ReplyDeleteI've never used voile for backing but I love working with it so I think I'll follow your example for my next quilting project. Love this pattern too - it's all just so perfect!
Oh my, I bet the couple really really loved the quilt!
ReplyDeleteAnother spectacular quilt by you. ;-)
Keep them coming please, all are great inspiration.
What a beautiful quilt, Carla! I love how you used the invitation as inspiration. Field Study is perfect!
ReplyDeleteCarla this is beautiful, the perfect gift.
ReplyDeleteI *love* love love this! The colors are so bright and cheerful and the feathered design is really truly blissful ;)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!! Very inspired work!!
ReplyDeleteThis is so SO pretty. And your husband is extremely handsome. Trivia: I made one of the quilts on the cover of the pattern--the one on the right. I enjoyed making it a lot.
ReplyDelete