Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2013: Something Blue

Welcome to the Fall 2013 Blogger's Quilt Festival!  I am excited to share Something Blue - the wedding quilt I made for my son and daughter-in-law.

Something Blue - made with scraps of old clothing and special family quilts 

Something Blue - a wedding quilt

The quilt pattern is Marmalade by Elizabeth Hartman whose class I took at QuiltCon where I made two of the blocks.  The remaining blocks were completed during my annual Gruber's quilt retreat.  I could have rushed and finished the quilt in time for the wedding, but I chose instead to put it aside and just enjoy this special time with family and friends.  I tend to stress a little ;-)

straight line quilting with Aurifil #2805

I strayed from the pattern just a little.  The quilt pattern calls for half diamonds on the two sides.  At one point I considered adding borders to make the quilt a little wider and the half diamonds wouldn't work with borders.  As I completed the quilt top using full-size diamonds in place of the half diamonds I realized the quilt was the size I wanted without the need for borders.

makeshift clothesline

tons of scrappy fabrics

I also went with one main color for the diamonds rather than two and only one background color.  I really like how Elizabeth used two different colors for her diamonds and the one background square in a different neutral, but I couldn't get that to work with the theme I had in mind.

closeup of quilting with Aurifil  50wt #2805

What makes this quilt extra special is the makeup of the scrappy diamond fabrics.  I included old clothing of not only the bride and groom but also my grandson, husband and two other children.  Additionally, there are scraps of fabrics from quilts made for said family members.  When using scraps that weren't old clothing or from a special family quilt, I tried to select fabrics that would mean something to Alex and Kasi.  For example, there are some coffee cup prints (they love their coffee), fabric that Kasi gifted me and fabrics she has admired in my studio.  Towards the end of piecing the diamonds, I did purchase some new fabric because I was getting bored.  With these purchases, I found some organic fabric in blues (organic being important to Alex and Kasi) and a camera print for obvious reasons.

the back with KONA Aqua, scrappy strips and Amy Butler LOVE

the back where you can see the quilting lines better

The backing is pieced with the cutaways from the diamond shapes as suggested in the pattern, but instead of inserting that strip in between two different solids I used the same background solid as the top and a favorite Amy Butler LOVE print that I used in a previous quilt made for Kasi.

"Pause friend let beauty refresh the spirit"

My daughter helped with photographing the quilt at a favorite park.  I wish you could more clearly see the etching on this structure which says "Pause friend let beauty refresh the spirit" and the plaque on the bench which says "Family is Everything".  Love these!

"Family is Everything"

My husband and I both are blessed with very special in laws.  I am thankful the same can be said of my son's in laws.  They have welcomed Alex into their family so generously.  Of course, I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful daughter in law than Kasi.  She truly is my daughter now, and anyone who reads my blog regularly knows how much I adore their son Leo.

Love these two

One more photo of the quilt and a photo of the couple.  Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to ready my quilt story.  A big thank you is in order to Amy for hosting the festival as well as her generous sponsors.  You can see all the festival entries here.

Love this photo

Quilt stats:
Name:  Something Blue
Category:  Favorite Scrappy Quit
Pattern:  Marmalade by Elizabeth Hartman
Size:  64 x 73
Fabric used:  KONA Aqua for background, numerous scraps for the diamonds, KONA Aqua and Amy Butler LOVE for the backing
Quilted:  by me using my walking foot and Aurifil 50wt #2805

Previous Festival entries:

Fall 2012 Liberated quilt

Fall 2011 SuperStar quilt

Fall 2010 Feeling Groovy peace quilt

Spring 2010 Got Pink?

Fall 2009 Silver Anniversary/Courthouse Blues

Also linking up with Amanda's finish it up Friday....

Really Random Thursday: Three Weddings and a Quilt Retreat

If you follow me on Instagram then you know my summer was pretty crazy with three wedding events in three separate state within 30 days.  There was a lot of hashtag #3weddingevents3states30days (speaking of hashtags, have you seen this YouTube video?!) going on.  In the middle of those three wedding festivities was my annual Gruber's retreat (thank goodness for that!).

my daughter and daughter-in-law

Here it is October and I haven't caught my breath yet.  I think I've put off posting about these occasions because I don't want to admit they're over.  I'm taking advantage of Cindy's Really Random Thursday linky party to give a brief recap.

Montana wedding collage

The first wedding was my sister's in Montana around the 4th of July.  Liz and her husband Luke share a love of the band Wide Spread Panic.  My dad gave a funny speech about that being a very appropriate theme of the weekend - cancelled flights, lost luggage, keys locked in the car, a flat tire, last minute vow writing among the mishaps.  In spite of all that, the ceremony was perfect, and everyone had a wonderful time.  The bride and groom, the weather and the scenery were all just gorgeous!

road trip

  The next weekend was my oldest son's wedding in Washington.  We packed up the car and hit the road, picking up grandparents along the way.  Being the mother of the groom, I didn't have too many responsibilities, so I tried to sit back and enjoy the ride.

with my boys

Father and Daughter

Here Comes The Bride

The day of the wedding was just magical!!!  The weather couldn't have been more perfect, with Mount Ranier visible behind the bride and groom as they exchanged vows.  The bride, looking radiant and gorgeous, was escorted by both her parents.  My two sons (the groom and the best man) walked me down the aisle.  My husband walked my daughter down the aisle where she played the violin (per the couple's request Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros) during the processional.

Washington wedding collage

before the wedding

one of my favorite pictures

 The ceremony and reception were held at The Maritime Center.  As Alex and Kasi were pronounced husband and wife, the ferry boat tooted its horn in approval ;-)  My brother-in-law had my camera and took some great shots.  I kind of like the candid ones.

Gruber's retreat collage

A few days after my son's wedding I put my family on a plane home to Florida, and I flew to Minnesota for the all important Gruber's quilt retreat.  Thanks to my fellow retreaters for tweaking the dates I was able to fit the retreat into the crazy wedding schedule.  My family and nonquilty friends thought I was crazy, but I wasn't going to miss retreating if I could help it.  I had a fabulous time talking, sewing, and laughing with my friends, and the retreat was just what I needed before the final wedding event of the summer.

Florida reception collage

Since Alex and Kasi were married so far away, we had a second reception in Florida for family and close friends.  I mentioned that being mother of the groom I didn't have many responsibilities at the wedding.  Well, the opposite was true for the Florida party.  I got a little taste of what it's like to be mother of the bride ;-)  

kid activities

photographer in action

My daughter helped prep quilt blocks for signing, design activities for the younger kids, and took photographs of the guests for the guest book.  She was such a good sport.  She did say that she's glad to be done with the fancy hair and dresses for a while!

heading to dinner

The best part was having Leo (his parents too) spend several weeks in Florida!  We did lots of fun things together.....

....picked out KONA solids for a quilt project

.....went to the book store

......chased/ran away up the stairs

....played peek a boo with the cute boy in the mirror

another candid photo - sometimes the best kind

Our Family

Thanks for letting me share a little bit of my family summer vacation with you.  I tried to keep the photos to a minimum.  If you made it all the way to the end,  you are to be commended ;-)

Happy Mail

Who doesn't like getting packages in the mail?  Friends and retailers have been keeping my postal guy busy lately....

peaceful mail

Cindy sent these cool peace themed happies with the Fandango fabric I bought from her destashing on Instagram.

fabric stack

need more purple

I needed more purples in my stash hence the order from Marmalade.

reference book

eye candy book

I'm excited about these quilt books:  Modern Bee and 500 Quilt Blocks.

coffee stash

 Not as exciting as a box of fabric, but receiving a box to replenish my coffee supply is a close second.

  

These goodies arrived over the summer during my blog hiatus....

paper goods

Stationery from the talented Terri to help with the million thank you notes I need to write.

playing with the box

confiscated as diaper bag

Bags I just had to have from stalking on Instagram.  Mary sent a stack of Fandango with this bag I just love as did my daughter-in-law and Leo.  I let them have the bag, but I kept the Fandango fabric.

After gifting the above bag, I then ordered another bag from Mary and an oilskin pouch from Amber. 

large and small

What has the postal carrier brought you lately?  Think I need to give mine a rest....

Mini Monday: QAYG and Log Cabins

I take a LOT of breaks when I am quilting.  My back and patience (or lack thereof) demand it.  Thank goodness for my featherweight and small projects.

QAYG practice

During those breaks while working on the {Hugs} hexie quilt, I practiced my quilt as you go technique I am learning from Tara's Tinkertote Craftsy class. 

Practicing the QAYG technique is a great way to use up scraps of fabric not to mention batting.  I don't know when I will find the time to make the patchwork bag from the class, but I am having fun with the technique.

scrappy pin cushion

I made this cute pin cushion using tiny scraps.   Walnut shells are used for stuffing.

pot holder front

pot holder back

Then I made a pot holder with bigger scraps.  I skipped the binding and did the stitch all around and flip inside out method instead.

pumpkin mug rug

This pumpkin mug rug didn't use the quilt as you go technique but it was made with scraps and a log cabin design.

needs a pumpkin muffin

 Now I need to get back to quilting....I have some more QAYG project ideas in mind!

Happy stitching!