Wedding Beauty

I feel like I am in my groove. I have had a string of quilts to do for clients recently that just strike accord with my aesthetic perfectly. Quilting them is like making music - easy and almost effortless. I do the harder ones too, and they usually look great when done.  Ones like this quilt are easy to start and hard to pull myself from when other motherly duties call.

This is made by my California client Robyn. Her daughter got married last year. It's a wedding gift. The wall-hanging is a mere 36"square or so, and has signature fabric on the backside that her guests signed. How personal is this?!  The bride and groom also reside in one of my favorite cities, San Francisco.  Ever since living in northern CA in the 1990's while in grad school, I have had a love of California. Yes, wild poppies are everywhere, and yes, Napa (pre-fires) is very lovely and romantic. But San Francisco has something for everyone.

 It is needle-turn appliqued, as many of Robyn's quilts are. I used 2 layers of batting, cotton/poly and wool, both by Hobbs.This gives great definition to the appliques. I knew it would receive sufficiently dense quilting so the 2 layers of batting don't appear too puffy.

 As usual, there are an assortment of threads.  SID is done with Madiera Monolon. The outer border (all tan) is quilted with Superior Magnifico. I pulled an orange YLI polished poly for the poppies and a blue of some variety for the water. I use many threads...whatever color is needed drives which thread will be used.  As for the bobbin threads, usually I only quilt with Superior SuperBobs, but I have a few 80wt bobbins by Wonderfil I am trying to use up.Small projects like this are perfect because I don't run any risk of not having enough. Plus, this thread is super-fine, and it did not obstruct the words on the signature blocks.

I added the date and bride-groom names on the longarm. I printed them out at a good size on paper, then traced it onto tracing paper. It was pinned onto the quilt top so that it would remain straight and centered. I then stitched right through the paper, going over the letters 3 times to create an almost embroidered look. The paper all but falls off when done. This was a bit of an experimental method that seemed to work flawlessly!

The lettering was quilted after and over the parallel lines.

There is considerable quilting on the tops of the appliques. This gives them added detailing and texturing. Some stitching is simple, like the poppies. The birds received a good bit more with feathers, lines and clam shells.

 

 Here are the grape clusters. These leaves had veins added.

Here's a peek at the back. The signature fabric was a tad too small, but the additions will only show on the sides once a hanging sleeve is added.

This is such a great idea for how to use this type fabric...not just for labeling quilts!

Hope you enjoyed this quilt. There is another of this client's applique quilts on my frame right now.
Have a nice Easter weekend!