One wedding quilt - done!

ok, so it has been a while again. Once more life kinda got in the way of coming on here to record the mundane and the creative. Then I remembered a couple of photos lurking on the pen drive which I never sorted out and the spark re-ignited. I've at least got to add the completed wedding quilt project.

So I'm proud to present ...


Mr & Mrs Lewis 2012 Wedding Gift Bed Quilt



I managed to get it done well within my self imposed deadline of one year - months in advance of their first anniversary in fact. It came together lovely and quickly once I got started and it was a very enjoyable one to do.

A bit more of a close up, unfortunately my snaps still don't show some of the lovely detail in the prints we found (there are plenty of chickens in there!). It looked so lovely and at home on our bed it was quite a wrench sending it off to its new owners.



Well the quilt has gone off to a very happy home and I understand it has been doing sterling work keeping the newly weds toes toasty over these winter months. Next up is youngest sister, she gets married in October this year and has also requested a quilt for their gift. The aim this time is to get it done before the wedding, wish me luck! First fabric shopping trip coming up on Monday :)

Toodle pip
J
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Like buses ...

Good start there eh? I commit to re-starting this thing and then bingo the weeks fly by again and I still haven't committed fingers to keyboard. But I have been plotting posts, oh yes indeedy, and after a good long wait like buses they come all at once! Hop aboard :)

First up I'm going to sneaky peak a work in progress. Now, during my blogging break my next to youngest sister Netti tied the knot with her lovely boyfriend Chris. My wedding gift to them didn't quite materialise in time (ha, ha materialise geddit!) and I admit it ok they were going to need a very long engagement for me to get my gift in order - but my intention was there from the off.

I blogged a good while back about my signature style of scrap quilting. Netti has always absolutely loved the bed quilt I made and for ages she has been dropping quite a few hints that I would have to make her one someday. So when the right occasion came along it was a no brainer.

So I'm making them a crazy squares bed quilt as a wedding gift. There was no way I could get a complete quilt together even with the twelve months notice, small babies and quilting don't mix easily. So here was the very small sample square that I parcelled up as their gift on the wedding day ...




The colour scheme doesn't come across great in these photos, but there is a lime green/brown/blue/purple bonkersness going on there. I explained away doing only a small bit of the finished article in part because I wanted their involvement in choosing fabrics to go into the quilt. I wanted it to tie in with their colour schemes etc. I needn't have worried as this one has gone so crazy it will tone/clash great with any scheme they choose and the craziness emerging suits my sister's personality down to a T.

I need an astounding 900 or so 10cm squares of fabric to complete this beasty. The fabric shopping stage has added an extra bonus to my favourite part of quilting. By letting this one just take the time it needs to come together Netti and I have managed a couple of girly trips out to play at buying nice fabric prints to add into the mix. Tea and cake along the way compulsory of course.

Here is some more work in progress totting up how far we'd got with the squares. About halfway there now ...














A couple more shopping trips and we should be at the laying out stage, we might need to hire a church hall for that one. Watch this space.
Toodle pip
J
x

Smarty pants

A couple of weeks back we attended the wedding of one of my cousins up in North Yorkshire. A pretty frock, make up and blow dried hair for me, best bib and tucker for the boys. Didn't we look smart?



Especially the little fella in his smart shirt ... it was even ironed for the occasion by his Nana! (I'm not known for ironing clothes!)



It was fun watching the deteroration of tidieness throughout the day, two or three hours in and he was a very different child having totally smeared himself in chocolate truffles :) Those table favours came into good use trying to keep him quiet through the speeches!!!

The venue, Goldsborough Hall, was super posh. A gorgeous house with awesome chandeliers and gardens that looked unreal because they were that perfect.. you know the kind where there is literally not one weed to be seen as far as the eye can see, the gravel has been raked into patterns and the grass looks to have been cut with nail scissors ... by hand! The day generated lots of post match analysis on the drive home the next day - you know disecting various relatives and their weirdness alongside discussions about how we want our own wedding to be. We just can't get that one sorted in our heads at the moment!

Overall we had a very nice time, it was lovely to see everyone all dressed up and the weather was perfect so we could spend most of the afternoon outdoors. Keeping a one year old entertained and well behaved throughout was a challenge - quite long stretches of weddings are either really boring (official photos anyone? yawn) or require small people to keep uber quiet. Keeping the other half entertained on the other hand was quite easy ... he rather took advantage of the free champagne and was more than a bit merry by about 4pm! Boy-oh-boy did he suffer the next morning. Don't think he realised he can no longer hack the pace like he could in his youth :)
Toodle pip
J
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