A finished quilt (and loads of pics!!)

My niece is getting married in October so, of course, a wedding quilt is required!

I know I have finished this one rather early for an October wedding but I have so much YouPatch sewing to do in the coming months, I knew I had to get it done now or it may never get done.

This quilt is HUGE. 96 inches square. That's 8 foot square!!!! I used Katy's tutorial for 12 inch economy blocks and I really love how the blocks come together to create secondary blocks!!

My niece is a fashion photographer so I have included fabrics with images of cameras, handbags and sunglasses among the many and varied fabric choices.

Given that this quilt is intended for two people, I thought I'd better include something about her beloved too. He is a bit of a mad surfer and loves the ocean so on the back of the quilt ..... I created the ocean.

This one was too big for me to quilt on my little Bernina so I sent it off to be quilted by Kylie (who has no website or FaceBook profile or anything I can link to). She did a gorgeous job of creating waves on the solid Kona fabrics I used on the back.

The Binding from the front just looks like scrappy solid blue colors but on the back, the binding perfectly matches up with the colors I have used for my backing. 

I'll finish up with some (more) gratuitous quilt shots. 

I'm sure my niece and her fiance will love this gift. She definitely 'gets' the whole handmade thing! Now I just have to see if I can wait until October to give it to them or if they 'need' it early to have a warm quilt on their bed this winter. We'll see.

Happy stitching to you.

Andi xxx

A very special quilt

A while back, I gave you a peek at a commission I was working on using printed text.

Well, I couldn't show you much more than that, as the piece was destined to be used as a chuppah at a wedding and I didn't think it was right to show you the quilt before it was seen by the wedding party and guests.

That time has passed now, so I can reveal all.

The idea behind this chuppah was to create a communal piece with input from many of the wedding guests.
Guests were asked to send in a message for the bride and groom. I then formatted the messages in a variety of fonts and printed them onto printable fabric sheets.
As well as messages, a selection of black and white wedding photos of the couple's parents and grandparents were included.

These sheets needed to be soaked to set the image.

 

Once they were dry, they could be pieced together.

I was nervous about pin basting this quilt as the printable fabric is very tightly woven and the pins really do leave little holes in the fabric. So I compromised and spray basted the central part of the quilt and pinned the regular white cotton of the border.

Then I quilted and quilted and quilted. Straight line quilting in the central part and stippling in the border.

You can really see the quilting with the light behind the chuppah.

Around the border of the quilt are appliqued words in hebrew that roughly translate as:
Song of joy and gladness, song of bride and groom.

Bound in black satin:

 

Finished and folded:

And here it is in use.

Mazal tov Len and Davina.
Thank you for allowing me to play a part in your special day.

Andi x

Wedding photos ... and more!!!

We have finally finished putting together a Big Red Wedding Blog to share with all our guests (and other interested parties).

It has photos, video snippets (these may not interest all of you but you might like to click on the vid of my speech if you would like to hear me sing!!), some of the speeches transcribed, etc.

Many of you have expressed an interest in seeing the wedding snaps so you can also head on over to the wedding blog.

In the meantime, here are a few snaps:

The happy couple!

The hand felted shawl made by Vilte

and my button covered outfit

Thanks to everyone for your many kind wishes of congratulations already received.

We couldn't be happier.

Love,

Andi xx

And we're married!!!!!

More photos to come when I get them from the photographer.

Andi :-)

Challah Cover

We are getting married in a couple of weeks. (Not that I'm stressed or anything)


My cousin and her husband (Rabbi Ian) are coming all the way from Leeds (yes, in the UK) to Melbourne to celebrate with us (and to perform the ceremony).

As a token of our huge appreciation, I have decided to give them my 'Old Red Barn quilt along' - quilt (nearly finished now) and a matching Challah cover.

Challah is the traditional egg loaf eaten by Jews as part of the Friday night sabbath (Shabbat) meal.

The front has the word "Shabbat" appliqued on it in Hebrew lettering.


A floral quilting pattern...


and a plain cream backing


It measures 16 inches by 21 inches.

I hope they like it.

Andi :-)

Don't look Dan!!!!

In six weeks my beloved and I will be married.
I discovered a wonderful craftswoman via the Ravenhill blog.

I contacted her hoping she would take a commission and make my wedding veil.

I couldn't be more excited. Look what she made!!!!!


More photos here!

Andi :-)