Bloggers' Quilt Festival!

Today I'm sharing the story surrounding my Bloggers' Quilt Festival quilt. It's a long post, but bursting with emotion for me to write. For information on the process of the quilt, come back tomorrow :)

 

I met my friend Rachael in 2nd grade. I had just moved to Florida and was living an hour away from my school while my family's house was being finished. In elementary school we were best friends: in the same Girl Scout troop, multiple classes together, on a boys soccer team together, and two of the four girls in Gifted.

And then I found out I was moving to Virginia. We shared a "Best Friends" butterfly necklace, and promised we'd stay friends forever. I think we did a pretty good job of staying in touch for 11 year-olds...I'd sleep over at her house when my family visited Florida and we wrote letters occasionally. But I also made new best friends, and loved my time in Virginia.

Then we found out we were moving back to Florida in time for me to enter high school. I had missed those all-important middle school years where strong friendships are formed. I was even more nervous moving back to a place I had lived before.

But then...

We were friends again! We slipped right back into our friendship! Now we had a more mature relationship; not spending the night at each other's houses, but talking about life and our undying love for coffee. We were in classes together again, played club soccer and high school soccer together, were high school captains together one season, volunteered with Girl Scouts together, and took a very memorable camping trip one weekend with a million little kids. She was the only person I let interview me after I was robbed at gunpoint at Arby's, and her mom was my character reference for pretty much every job/college I applied to.

I remember freshman year when she started dating James. As only high schoolers who couldn't drive could "date". They actually met when she was in 8th grade and he was in 9th. He went to a school down the road, but I remember how he used to drive over and see her after school while we were waiting for soccer practice to start.

And then she did something that I think makes her one of the smartest and wisest high school girls on the planet. They split up so she could enjoy high school without the pressures of a boyfriend. She didn't date anyone else, but I honestly didn't give James a second thought after that. And then when we went to college he was back in her life and the two of them could enjoy being adults and forming a special bond. I knew then that he was special.

She graduated college a semester early, got offered a teaching job a day after graduation, and now teach high schoolers all about literature and writing, which is a passion of hers. James graduated college and got a great job as a finance manager and then proposed. She has so many friends and has been a bridesmaid so many times and now she gets to be the center of attention. She gets to be the beautiful bride.

And Rachael, you will be beautiful. You're one of the most beautiful people I've ever met. In spirit and character just as much as in physical looks. You take amazing photos [especially in South Africa!], have been all over the world on mission trips, drink as much coffee as me, and never fail to make me laugh when we meet at our favorite brunch place and you get something so healthy while I have a small mountain of bacon. You're the reason I like turkey and tomato sandwiches and are the prime example of a strong, self-assured woman.

Dear Rachael,

Quilts have traditionally been given as wedding presents for centuries. So why mess with a good thing, right?! The quilts of the past were hand-stitched bundles of love and well wishes. The quilt I made wasn't hand-stitched in that way, but every moment spent on this quilt was a moment that I was pouring wishes of love and joy and happiness into your upcoming marriage. I hope this quilt brings you comfort for years to come and serves as a reminder of the joining of your new family.

Love, Rebecca

Fall 2006

Rachael must have a secret for non-puffy eyes after crying. Must get that...

*I gave Rachael her quilt at her bridal shower yesterday. I cried immediately upon her opening it. She cried. My mom cried. Her mom cried. A couple other people cried. It was the most beautiful quilty moment that I've ever had :)

-Linked with SewHappyGeek

A finish for Friday - The Wedding Edition

LOVE me a striped binding :)

Hi all!

I'm finally showing off the quilt I made for my good friend Ashley who's getting married on Sunday. As you will recall, I got sick at the most inconvenient time for a last-minute quilt for her bridal shower at the beginning of February and couldn't quilt this baby. I got it finished up a bit later, although I just washed it last night and took pictures today.

I'm sure the wedding will be a beautiful celebration, and I fully expect to cry [I'm a sap for weddings].

 It's 11 blocks by 15 blocks, finishing at 55x75". I wanted to make sure the colors and prints were "man friendly" as well. 

The entire thing is stippled except for 7 stars, which have no stippling inside them and are instead echo quilted. I wouldn't have been able to do that if I had given the quilt to her on time. And while I love the effect, especially on the back, it was a beast to get this quilt through my machine with a whopping 5.5 inches of throat space; pivoting for all those star points made me rethink my decision many times.

The back features the cute little pinwheels from the Children at Play collection in the middle, with lots of solids to show off the quilting. And actually, the dark green was not intended for the backing. I was originally going to use the other 3 colors plus the gray, but I miscalculated how much of each color I'd need, and so had to add in additional yardage, so I ended up with the gray strip. I'm not entirely sure if I like it...

Mmm it looks so nice on the back! And although you certainly can't tell from this photo, or really even looking at the quilt, I had the worst time quilting this. My machine really hated some of the bulkier seams, and I lost my FMQ groove for some of the time. This was my first time quilting a large object on my new table [I've quilted all my quilts on my coffee table; bad for my back, but good for control over the quilt]. My machine moves on the slippery surface while I'm wrestling with the quilt. Not ideal.

Laugh. Trust. Love. Until the end of time. 03.04.2012

Celebrating finishes with Crazy Mom Quilts and Amylouwho today! :)

Labeling your creations is so important!

One of the most important things I learned from reading various blogs is to label your quilts. So I had the luxury of knowing that from the get-go, and I knew I wanted to label all of my creations, not just my quilts.

So I headed to Etsy [um, yes, I have been known to browse the time-suck that is Etsy. Don't even get me started on Pinterest]. I needed something that fit a grad student budget. Sadly, I didn't find any free labels, so I settled for ones that are an excellent value. 

I had downloaded some fonts I really liked and played with colors to make the logo that is on my labels, so I needed a shop that was willing to accept an image file from me instead of using an already-created one. Inked Papers was the clear winner. I contacted the shop owner, Michelle, and told her what I needed and she totally worked with me and then sent me a proof of the final sizing of the labels. I got a spool of 1/2" twill tape in white, and I chose to have my name in a 2.5" repeat, giving me a some space on the sides for seam allowance.

Sorry for the bad cell phone picture at night, but I was too excited when I got the mail to wait for daylight. I estimate that I got approximately 60 labels, and it was $20, including shipping, and including all the help I got from Michelle. Fantastic! 

[Uhm, please ignore the threads and fuzz...my sister was taking photos and then when I was reviewing them I asked her why she left it there, and her response was "Oh I thought it was a hole." My response "You thought it was a hole and weren't going to point that out to me? That's worse!" Oh, 17-year-olds.]

But anyways, I've washed this quilt and there has been no color fade yet. I plan on washing some other things a couple more times to test the labels out. I'm very happy with my purchase and would definitely recommend Inked Papers if you're looking for labels. [And no, I don't know Michelle, nor was I asked to say this.]

Happy sewing :)