a wedding present

On May 21, Joel and I had the privilege of attending the wedding of our dear friend Lorraine.  She married the sweet and kind Darryl in a beautiful ceremony on a warm ans sunny Saturday and it couldn't have been more perfect.  Except that it was!

There was a candy buffet.

Seriously.

I didn't take any pictures because I was too busy stuffing my face but it was delicious.  Everything you could think of was there.



Lorraine wore an amazing green iridescent dress with a sparkly, lacy bolero and a stunning beaded headband made by a friend.  She was radiant!

Since Lorraine wouldn't tell me what she wanted for her wedding, I took matters into my own hands.  She had mentioned kitchen things as favourite wants and I knew she loved green and brown, so voila:



 A double oven mitt and potholder set.  I made the oven mitt using this tutorial, sort of.  The potholder I just threw together without instructions.



Do you ever have one of those moments while you are sewing for someone else where you feel totally inspired by the fabric or colour combo and wish you were making something for yourself instead?

I totally had that moment with the potholder, but alas, the majority of the fabrics were just tiny pieces of scrap that I used up.  I did manage to make an extra patchwork square for myself, but I don't know what I'll use it for yet.

Lorraine and Darryl - congratulations on your wedding, may you be endless happy!

Bloggers' Quilt Festival

Well, it's that time of year again - Bloggers' Quilt Festival! Last year I wrote about the Argyle Quilt of Doom. This year, the Quilt Festival lined up with the completion of Plain Spoken III.



Plain Spoken III (I really need to come up with a more creative name than that) is the biggest project I have ever undertaken. It is massive. Before washing it measured approximately 112" by 110". That makes it larger than a king sized quilt.

I've written about it before, but just like the Argyle Quilt of Doom, Plain Spoken III was a wedding quilt created for some very special friends.

My husband Joel has known Jeremy and Breanne for a while longer than I have. He met them when he first moved to Calgary, and I met them about 3 years later when Joel and I stared dating. Jeremy and Breanne would probably tell you that their romance was a long and winding road full of it's fair share of bumps. However, I have never doubted their "rightness" as a couple since I've met them. They really are the kind of people that make you believe in soulmates.

So, after a 7(?) year courtship, when they finally tied the knot, I knew they needed something really special. This quilt is the first time I have made a quilt for someone and let them pick out the pattern, size AND fabrics. Originally they had chosen a queen size quilt, but I think most people would agree that a bigger quilt is always nicer. They chose the Plain Spoken pattern from the Modern Quilt workshop and we went browsing online for the right collection of colours. Jeremy is famous for his love of blue, so we chose 11 shades of blue beige and brown and ordered them up.



This quilt has been in progress since a week after their wedding. Oops! Living in Canada means a very limited supply of Kona cottons, and ordering from the States takes about 3 weeks to get here.

Once I had decided on a king sized quilt, the next challenge was how to make it on my regular sized machine. I devised a plan that included making it in 4 quarters to make it more manageable during the piecing stage. After the first 3 were complete I stalled. I started wondering how I was possibly going to get it quilted on my machine. I stalled and stalled some more. After about 3 months of stalling, my husband was trying to encourage me to at least get the top done. So I went back to work and pieced the last quarter of the top. All the while fretting about how I was possibly going to get it quilted.



Joel is the one who came up with the solution. Quilt it in two halves and then join them in the middle and quilt over the last tiny section in the middle. Genius!

I spent about 4 or 5 days quilting straight lines 1/4 inch apart. It was a workout to say the least. I chose to go with a medium-light grey because I couldn't decide on anything else. I love the dimension the grey adds to it!



In order to get the quilt ready to be attached in the middle, I decided which half would be the top and which the bottom. Once I had decided I quilted all the way to their respective edges. I then trimmed the batting and backing to match the edges of the quilt top and sewed the top and bottom pieces together using a regular seam that only went through the first two layers, leaving the backing free. Once that was done I trimmed one piece of backing as short as possible and folded a hem into the other, making it overlap the trimmed edge. I pinned the hemmed piece in place and stitched it down with the quilting thread. I them quilted in the blank space surrounding the seam and voila, a nearly invisible transition between the two pieces.

I don't know how clear that was, but if you want more instructions, let me know and I will either write up a little tutorial or send an email.



After all the quilting and binding was finished, I stitched up a little tag to add to the bottom corner. Just a simple dedication tag with their names and wedding date plus who it's from. I attached it to the quilt with my free motion foot.



It took me 3 different sessions over 3 days to get all the pictures I wanted of the quilt. I tried to get Joel and our roommate Thomas to hold it up, but it proved too big. And windy!!

The quilt was officially finished on Sunday, and the plan had been to give it to the happy couple of Sunday, but I couldn't find the time to drop it off. I was happy to have an extra few days to get more photographs.

Jeremy and Breanne finally received their quilt on Wednesday when we had them over for a tequila tasting night.



I'm glad to report that they love it! Oh, and that they have upgraded to a king bed so it's a good thing I made a king!

plain spoken III - top complete!

I can't believe it! Yesterday I finally finished the quilt top for Plain Spoken III. You know, the on that was a pile of fabric sitting on my desk in November and is going to become a wedding quilt for our friends who were married in October? Haha, clearly it was never going to be done on time.



As of this week, I was still super stumped on how I was possibly going to quilt this beast. It currently sits about about 119" by 117" which is probably unreasonably large. But on Tuesday my dear, sweet, intelligent husband suggested a brilliant idea! I'm not going to share it just yet. I want to make sure it works first. Fingers crossed for me!

When the top was finished it was too big to hold up outside and no one was around to hold it for me anyways, so I decided to set it up on our bed and snap a couple of shots. You can see just how big it is. It hangs quite close to the ground on either side and it is so long that it is pulled all the way to the headboard and tucked around the mattress AND box spring with about 6 inches underneath at the foot board. It's true that I have it on a queen sized bed, but still. I am hoping that quilting and washing will reduce it's size by about 4-5 inches each in width and length.



I've decided to quilt it the exact same way as Plain Spoken II. I'll quilt straight(ish) lines about 1/4 inch apart, across the width of the quilt. And I've decided to be really daring and quilt it in medium gray! I keep trying to remind myself what Clinton & Stacy always say "neutrals go with neutrals" and stop freaking out about quilting a brown and beige quilt with gray. Again, this was dear, sweet hubby's idea. And when I checked with my ultra stylish brother, he agreed that no shade of blue or brown would be quite right and would make it seem too matchy. I like the idea of it feeling a bit more eclectic, so I'm just going to go for it!

The goal for today is to iron all the layers, baste it and start the quilting. Of course to do that, I have to move my dining room table into the living room, wash the floors and wrestled 120 square inches of batting, backing and quilt top over my ironing board. Hmm...maybe I'll just iron on the kitchen floor...

Wish me luck!

blogger's quilt festival - fall 2010

I decided to take the plunge and enter the Blogger's Quilt Festival, hosted by Amy's Creative Side.  I missed it last year because, well, I forgot!  Oops!

In trying to decide which quilt to write about, I really only considered which was my favourite.  So far, it's probably a tie between The Wonky Baby Girl Quilt, The Sea of Blue Quilt, or the Plain Spoken II Quilt.  Since I couldn't decide between them, and I haven't finished either of the 3 quilts I have on the go that might take top place, I decided to write about the quilt that I have learned the most from.

So, for the second time in just a month, let me write a bit about the Argyle Quilt of Doom.  This time, instead of ranting or complaining, I will really explain the process and reason behind the quilt.



I guess this quilt actually started before I knew it.  When my husband and I were married for barely six months, we had an opportunity to move out of our teeny tiny basement suite (a 500 square foot bachelor with no bathroom door, I kid you not!) and move into a bigger space with a roommate.  The roommate would be Troy, a friend of Joel's from university.  Though our time at University overlapped, I had not really spent any time with Troy, even though he was in our wedding.  But Joel and him were good friends and he seemed like a really great guy so I was excited for the opportunity.  Joel and I love hosting people in our house and generally living in community.  I think it keeps us grounded and also helps us avoid becoming a little independent bubble couple.

Living with Troy turned out to be great!  I quickly got to know him and appreciate living with a roommate.  Troy became (even more) special to us over the almost 2 years that he lived with us.  He witnessed the birth of my quilting obsession, and was always willing to offer an opinion on design, colour, layout, anything I asked.

At some point while he was living with us, I asked him what kind of quilt he would like (since obviously, everyone I know needs a quilt) and said he would really like an argyle quilt.  I really wasn't sure how to do that, and had other projects on the go, so it got moved to the back burner.

And then, Troy met Amanda.  And Amanda is perfect for Troy.  We knew as soon as we met her that they would end up "happily ever after."

Photo by Vivid Photography in Nanaimo, B.C.

So, when the date was set, I knew I had to make the quilt.  Even with all the struggles I had, I am really glad that I made it, and that it has found a home in the Dunham house.

I learned a lot through making this quilt.  I learned that they way I made the quilt is probably not the easiest way I could have done it.  I learned not to rely on Fabricland to stock anything.  Even basic stuff.  I learned how hard it is to quilt something that large on a machine with a relatively small throat.  I learned what a great resource Ikea linens are.  (Especially when they are on sale!)  I learned that it's okay for things to be imperfect and I need to pick my battles when it comes to  fixing mistakes.  And finally, I learned that even though it is better to be late than never - it stresses me out to give a wedding gift months after the fact.



I love this quilt.  But I don't plan on ever referring to it as anything but "The Argyle Quilt of Doom" because that's what it felt like to make.  And unlike childbirth (not that I actually know this from experience) I haven't forgotten the pain of making it.

the wedding

The wedding was fantastic!  It really is wonderful to get to share such a special moment with wonderful friends and to celebrate their fantastic love.  Breanne looked absolutely gorgeous in her beautiful and simple flowing dress (and look!  There's my veil!)  Jeremy was teary eyed before she even came down the aisle.  The wedding with full of personal touches that made it very them.  I am glad to say I was there when they became Mr. & Mrs. Heide!

something blue

Photo by Jeremy's Dad.  (He was hiding in the bushes!)

Some dear friends of ours are getting married tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited!  Jeremy and Breanne are a long time love story and are one of those couples you meet and it makes you sure there is only one true love in love.

We are so excited to attend and be able to celebrate with our friends and I was even more excited at the prospect of being able to contribute to the wedding!

A few months ago, Breanne asked if I would make a set of garters for her because she couldn't find the right thing.  Of course I said yes (even though I had never made them before and had absolutely no idea what I was doing!)

Breanne wanted blue because Jeremy loves blue.  Could you tell by the photo above?  So, after some Google searching, a couple of trials and errors, I finally came up with a cute set that I am happy with and Breanne likes.



They are a simple white cotton with blue satin ribbon stitched on, encasing a 3/4" wide no flip elastic.  Overall, not actually that hard to make.  I made her one that is slightly bigger for her to keep and one that is slightly smaller for her to toss at the reception.

I woke up this morning knowing I had to run over and deliver them (easy, since she lives only a few blocks down the road!) and saw I had a Facebook message from here.  "HELP!  My veil never showed up from Etsy!"  Oh dear.  Obviously, that is not the kind of thing a bride wants to be dealing with the day before her wedding.  As luck would have it, Facebook had popped up with a suggestion to peruse my wedding album and she saw my veil and realized it was basically the same one she had ordered.

So, off I went this morning, with my veil and her garters in hand.  Not exactly saving the day, but glad I could help.  Of course, we will all cross our fingers that her veil actually shows up today!  Unlike the States, our postal system doesn't work.  At all.  And especially not on Saturdays, so if it's a no show today, it's a no show at all.

And just because I'm feeling nostalgic, here's a pic from our wedding.  :)

Photo by Brooks Reynolds