Finally! A Quilt Show and Tell!

Remember this mix of fabrics I bought with a gift certificate I won? When I chose the various fabrics at the time, I wasn't consciously selecting ones that I thought might look good together but when they arrived and I laid them out, I thought they coordinated quite nicely. And so they became the basis for a wedding quilt for Josh and Noelene. I added a few more fabric selections for filler and some white cotton and ...

... Mom and I made this! I'm SO pleased with how it turned out. We used the Geese in the Park pattern. We made several rectangles of "flying geese" and then instead of placing them in a flying geese pattern, we turned them to make diamonds and zigzags. I like knowing that the pattern is actually a hidden "flying geese" pattern since it's made for a couple of pilots. Click on the photos to see bigger images.

I chose the fabrics and cut them and did the final applique for the finishing touch. Mom did all the precision machine stitching (not my forte ... yet) and provided her technical knowledge. Mom had Tara from Kyle do the long-arm quilting and the binding. She used the trees and leaf pattern from the forest fabric as the basis for the quilting design. I love it and I know Josh and Noelene will, too.

You can't imagine how hard it has been for me to keep it a secret! I've been so excited about actually finishing a quilt and doing it with Mom.  

This is the back. I took this photo before I did the applique so if you're looking for the camouflaged applique, don't strain your eyes.

The appliqued pieces that have since been stitched onto the back of the quilt are meant to give it some special meaning for Josh and Noelene. The problem is that I'm relatively inexperienced with applique. I'm quite confident with straight line applique as I've been doing on Hannah's handkerchief quilt but when there are little curves and indents ... well, I learned that I suck. I did improve as I went, though, so that's promising. I thought it was very clever to camouflage the appliques in the forest fabric on the back of the quilt. Future children might have fun finding the elephant, the bear, the rabbit, and the two airplanes among the trees and owls on the back of the quilt. They're camouflaged so well that my sloppy applique work doesn't show up so much. Bonus. I finished the applique on the Friday morning before the wedding. A close call.

The elephant represents South Africa where Noelene grew up and where her parents live.

The rabbit is for 2011 being the year of the rabbit. Can you see it? It took Kevin a couple of days of looking to be able to identify it. I told him he needs glasses!

There are two airplanes to acknowledge that both Josh and Noelene are pilots. They're both passionate about flying.

The bear represents both Josh's connection to White Bear, Saskatchewan and his and Noelene's love of the great white north and the land and the wildlife there.

For the label, I chose a handkerchief with shamrocks embroidered on it because I know Josh is proud of his Irish heritage.

Mom and I were SO excited to not just start a quilt but to FINISH a quilt! I want to start another one right now and I want to try my hand at machine stitching. SCARY!

It was all the more fun making a quilt knowing it was for Josh and Noelene, who we love so much.