09 October 2009

Fall 2009 Quilt Festival

I am so excited to participate in Park City Girl's Fall 2009 Quilt Festival. I remember when she had the first one back in spring, I had just started quilting and I got so much inspiration from all the quilts posted. And now the quilting obsession has far surpassed my garment sewing, much to my chagrin.

But for my entry, I am going to post again about the Wedding Present quilt.

Front


Back


I made this quilt as a wedding present for a friend of mine and The Husbands. It was the biggest quilt I had made at this point and I was a little intimidated. I had the bride make a choice from 3-4 fabric collections which she liked best, without telling her what I was making. She choose the Joel Dewberry Deer Valley collection, which I thought she would love (and I know is a favorite of many out there), but honestly it doesn't rock my world. So I wanted to make sure and use ALL the scraps because I knew they would languish in my scrap barrel forever unused if I didn't.

So the back is very pieced with lots of the scraps left over from the quilt. I also added this embroidered panel to the center back as a sort of gift tag.


The quilting was a little scary as it was much bigger than I had ever tried to do free motion on my machine. But I took it slow and took lots and lots of breaks and only had to unpick boo-boos a couple times. :-)

But after all of this piecing, I STILL had scraps. So I made a tote bag as gift wrapping.


After I made it, it tended to gape open unattractively, so I made a few little birdie ornaments and pinned them in to weight it closed.


After all this, I had a lovely quilt with wrapping, and zero scraps left over. And the bride loved it. Yay, Happy Ending!

63 comments:

Dee said...

Beautiful...front and back. What an awesome wedding gift, along with the bag and the love birds. thanks for sharing it at Festival!

Allie said...

That is a great gift! I love to hear the stories behind the quilts. The tote bag is just fantastic too. Beautifully done!

Cathy said...

Lovely, simple quilt that showcases the fabrics used. And I love your idea of making a matching tote as "gift wrap." I think I'll have to borrow that!

Kaye Prince said...

Wow, this is amazing! You did a beautiful job and I really like the birdies on the bag.

Summerset said...

Congrats! It is such an awesome gift.

Anonymous said...

Great story and a lovely quilt. :)

Zonnah said...

It is beautiful!

ktquilts said...

Wow, getting ready to machine quilt my first big quilt. Thanks for the insperation!

Blessings,
KT

stitchinpenny said...

I love the quilt/ I also love the label. Quilt gifts are so much more personal with a beautifuk label.

Kelli said...

I really love the fabrics you chose and the presentation is fabulous!

Greta said...

I love the little birds. That was a great idea. Did you come up with those yourself or did you follow a pattern? I am thinking something like that might be a great way to finish off some Christmas presents that I am working on. I love the quilt too.

Anonymous said...

Very nice quilt! You did a great job....and love the bag and birds also....LOL. I have one quilt I did that with also - I didn't want any of THOSE scraps of fabric laying around in my stash to use forever and ever!

Bari

Stephanie Hughes said...

This is just a wonderful wedding gift. Your colors just make the quilt absolutely beautiful. Love stashes, don't you?

Karen said...

What a great wedding present. I love the birdies on the bag.

Anne at Film and Thread said...

Beautiful quilt and great present! The tote bag with the birds is a wonderful addition!

Kriza said...

I love this quilt! And would have been happy to get the scraps too :-)
What a great idea to make a matching bag, and the birdies just make it even more perfect.
Kristina

Helen said...

This is the perfect wedding present! Just lovely. :)

Mary P said...

I really love it. If you had any scraps left over, I'm sure you could have done a giveaway and had many people eager to get them. But I love what you did with the scraps. So creative!

tirane93 said...

your combination of handmade gifts is really special. the colors are delightful and your work is first rate. thanks for sharing it with us all!

Unknown said...

Great job. And smart thinking on the bag, and weights. Super special gift for any couple.

Rachel said...

I love this fabric collection. You did a great job at making it look feel really contemporary.

Sara said...

You did a beautiful job on this quilt. It is lovely. I love both the front and the back...but the tote bag and birds really sealed the deal! Lovely, lovely, lovely!

Latane Barton said...

What an amazing quilt and one that I am sure they will treasure for always. Thanks for sharing.

Rhondi said...

The colors in your quilt are great and I love the little birds. They are so cute!

Katie B said...

What an incredible gift! Your friend is one lucky bride. I love the colors, and the birds are just the icing on the cake!

Rene' said...

I love that - no waste ;-))) The quilt is gorgeous. I love the fabrics and the layout. The pieced back is great with the embroidered label/gift tag. Your friend must feel very special to receive such a gift for her wedding. Thanks for sharing.

greenbuttonstudio said...

WOW... I love this quilt! The colors are fantastic, and talk about going above and beyond with a matching bag!!

Theresa said...

This is lovely - the bag is a fabulous idea, love the little birds that are keeping it closed.

ChickieChirps said...

I love this quilt and the bag and the birds! It is all fab and very inspiring!

Arabella

Aimee said...

I love the quilt and the bag and bird are such a creative way to gift it!

Carol at Serendipity said...

I love the quilt and the presentation is exquisite. What a wonderful gift.

Carol

Anonymous said...

It is very lovely!

SewCalGal said...

Absolutely beautiful quilt. Thanks for participating in the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

Quiltluver said...

Love it! The quilt, the bag, the birds. Very nice.

Leslie said...

awesome way to use up your scraps. this quilt is really fantastic.

zarina said...

I also love this simple design just to show off the beautiful fabric used.

Carin said...

Beautiful quilt, the back is as nice as the front and I love the bag and birds to wrap it in.

Kristin said...

Lovely!

Anonymous said...

I love the quilt and the bag!! Stunning work!

amber said...

Beautiful! I love the colors!!

QuiltSue said...

I think the back's as lovely as the front and I love the idea of the bag and those birds are just great.

DanainDFW said...

Wonderful gift. I do love the color combination!

grendelskin said...

What a wonderful gift! The pieced back is lovely and the bag-with-birds is just fabulous.

Staci K. said...

It's gorgeous!! The tote bag wrapping is such a nice addition to. I'm sure your friend treasures this special gift.

Kirsten said...

I love the quilt! And the bag and the birds! But I think I would have saved scraps for myself...cuz I'm a hoarder like that :)

Sara said...

Oh....I wish I had known! You could have sent me all those scraps! haha! Beautiful quilt, bag and birds! Love your creativity and I'm sure your gift was well received!

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

Awesome quilt and such a great story about using up all of the scraps! Those are two very lucky people to receive such a great gift. Thanks for sharing.

Catherine said...

This is just beautiful front and back and I love the tote bag with the birds! A great idea to use up evry little scrap.

Kathy said...

Lovely job. I like the front as well as the back. Then when I saw the bag and the bird ornaments, it made it really over the top. I bet they love it.

linda said...

Beautiful quilt, and what an awesome way to use up the scraps!

CJ said...

You were so creative with this and I love how you made the gift bag for it as well and the BIRDS! Such a wonderful wedding gift.

Heather said...

What an awesome wedding gift! Love the bag.

Zlaty said...

Very pretty quilt! Love your fabric choices and the wrapping!

Happy sewing!

Zlaty

brzeski said...

It's beautiful, just beautiful. I love the story, too. I was following along, thinking Ok, I could probably do that, ooh, free motion, that would be really really hard, but I could maybe....Oh good heavens look at that bag. And those BIRDS. Amazing! :)

sallgood said...

Great quilt and wonderful wrapping! I love that you used up every scrap, and with such fun and useful results.

Jodi Nelson said...

The quilt is fabulous, but that tote bag is awesome! What a great idea.

Marianne Penner said...

Fabulous quilt and awesome tote! Thanks for sharing.

Angie said...

What a great wedding gift!

Aimee said...

What a great idea to wrap it in a matching tote! The birds give it just the perfect touch!

Thearica said...

What an awesome gift! and a more awesome way of presenting it! Love the quilt, bag and the love birds!!

Diane said...

I love the colors!

Natalia from Piece N Quilt said...

I love this quilt! Thanks for sharing!

Christine said...

Those are some lucky friends! Beautiful quilt.