Finished Wedding Quilt

Just in time for "our first married" Christmas, I finished the guestbook quilt from our wedding.

I posted a few months ago about the first steps of creating this quilt.  Finishing it was the challenge - I was intimidated by the large size and the idea of maneuvering it around my sewing table and my small home machine.  The last few queen-sized quilts that I've made left me with sore arms and resolute that I would only make baby quilts from now on!

But I wasn't about to send this away to a long arm quilter - I had to finish it myself!  With patience, it came together just fine.  There were some sore arms, of course, but it was all worth it to spend so many hours lovingly stitching this together.  I think part of the difference was that I'm a more seasoned quilter now - I have a better grasp on how to approach a large project like this, and stronger free-motion quilting skills. Sometimes it's hard to notice this progress because it builds up incrementally with each project.  But then I pull off something like this and think, "wow, look what I can do!"

I even sewed the binding on by hand, which I wouldn't normally do on a quilt this large. But stitching the binding has long been my favorite part of the quilting process, and I wanted to take the time to do right by this quilt.

I love it.  It matches our bedroom perfectly, and is a wonderful reminder of the joy, coziness, and love that pervaded our wedding day.

Thanks to all of our friends and family who created squares to be a part of this quilt.  It is so special, and we'll treasure it forever.

Pastel Love Baby Quilt

This little cutie has been in my work-in-progress bin since the RI Modern Quilt Guild issued our jelly roll challenge back in...yikes...February!

This quilt was more of an experiment than anything - a way to push myself to try out some new free-motion quilting techniques.  But it turned out so cute and sweet that it's a perfect quilt for a new baby girl.  

This Pastel Love Baby Quilt is listed in my Etsy Shop.

Another Happy House Quilt

This must be the year of buying houses, because I've made so many little housewarming mini quilts!

This one is for a co-worker who loves the color turquoise.   

Tried a new quilting pattern here - wavy lines and leaves.

Headed to the housewarming party now!

Connecting the Dots

I always relish an opportunity to make a connection between my "day job" and my creative work outside the office.  It feels good to not think of them as separate and mutually exclusive pursuits, but instead to see myself as a whole person with cohesive threads that run through all of the things I do.

I can be creative at an admin desk job!  I can be inspired by spreadsheets, databases, and press releases!

When a team of fantastic designers unveiled a special logo for my organization's 40th anniversary celebration, it screamed out to me: "Make me into a quilt!"

The modern colors, the triangles, the solids...it was made to be a modern quilt!

Here's the finished quilt, ready to be auctioned off at the event:

I quilted the logo (three connected H's) with straight lines, and the negative space with a swirly free-motion design.

Hidden among the swirls are cursive words that relate to our work - context, narratives, storytelling, democracy...they're like little hidden treasures.

  And, as I like to do, I used up all the scraps on the back.  No leftovers!

My Wedding Quilt

Quilts are at the heart of it all for me.  They represent so many things - comfort, love, family, tradition, creativity, self-expression, joy, and coziness.

So naturally quilts had to have a role in my wedding.

I already posted the quilts that I created to thank my wedding party.  But there was another significant quilt that was part of the big wedding planning process: my own wedding quilt.

A fellow member of my quilt guild shared at a guild meeting that she made a quilt guest book for her daughter's wedding, and I filed this away in my "must do" ideas long before Ian and I were engaged.

Our guests wrote on pre-cut fabric squares backed in freezer paper (for stabilization) with fabric pens.  Some wrote sweet notes, some wrote silly sayings, and some drew adorable scenes for us.  Then they displayed them on clothesline for everyone to admire.

It was so fun to read them all once we got home, and to start thinking about how we would lay them out!  I used a program called Threadbias to envision some possibilities...

And once we decided on a design, it didn't take long to piece it together.

The quilt is traveling now to a few homes of loved ones who couldn't make it to the wedding, or were so busy dancing and chatting that they didn't make it over to the guest book.  In the meantime, I'll work on the back and hopefully have it ready to cozy up our bed before the winter!

Happy House Quilt

Sometimes, I'm so excited to deliver a quilt that I completely forget to properly photograph it!

This quilt/wall hanging is for our friends Kelly and Nicole, to celebrate their recent wedding.  When Ian and I were married a few months ago, some of the most special gifts and cards we received were a play on our wedding invitation, so I wanted to do something like that for Kelly and Nicole.  

I appliquéd the buds on the invitation, and added a sweet little house to celebrate that they just settled in to a lovely new home together. These colors are so them - bright, joyful, and exuberant!

Congrats, Kelly and Nicole!

Hannah's Quilt

The final quilt I made in preparation for the wedding was for Hannah, our amazing wedding officiant.

I met Hannah through my life coaching certification program - we connected right away, and it was clear to me that she is a wise and loving lady.  

So here they are, all three quilts together: Monica's quilt, Hannah's quilt, and Alyssa's quilt!

ArtSpark Challenge Quilt

A few months ago, the Northwest Ohio Modern Quilt Guild issued a challenge to all modern quilters: visit an art museum, and create a quilt inspired by any piece that catches your eye.

And boy, do I love a good challenge!  I visited the RISD Museum's Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion, and this photograph immediately jumped out at me:

Tamagni-Willy Covari, Brazzaville (source)

Here is my finished quilt:

This quilt was so fun to make!

Alyssa's Quilt

The second bridesmaid quilt that I made was for Alyssa.

She is a fantastically talented illustrator, and was so generous to create THE CUTEST illustration of us for our wedding invitation:

It perfectly summed up the joyful and whimsical vibe of our wedding.  And it looks exactly like us!  

Alyssa creates custom illustrations for baby and wedding gifts, and she has an array of playful and poignant greeting cards.  Check out some of her adorable designs in her Etsy Shop.

This is the quilt that I made to thank her for the illustration and everything else she did to support us and our wedding.

I revealed this quilt earlier this year, since it was part of the Madrona Road Challenge through the Modern Quilt Guild.  But I designed it from the beginning for Alyssa - the colors are so beautiful and serene, and the layout so simple and clean.  It reminds me of Alyssa's living room.

More fun free-motion quilting here: pebbles and boxes.

The back might be my favorite.  The chevron print that I echoed on the front holds it all down.

Alyssa was so calming throughout the wedding planning process.  She always helped me stay focused on what it's all about.

Here's hoping this quilt brings her the same comfort that she generously gave to me.  Love you, Alyssa! Thank you so much!