Tag Archives: signature quilts

Jasmine’s Wedding Quilt – In Her Words

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My cousin Jasmine is today’s guest blogger. I got to sew simple log-cabin quilt blocks for her wedding guests to sign. Now it’s a treasured quilt. Here’s what she has to say about it:

 

 

 

Getting married to the guy you love is such an awesome thing.

jas time professional photo

But you know what was almost equally as awesome about our wedding day? That ALL the people we love came from all over the country to be there with us.

wedding party jas

Seriously – when else in your life does that happen? Everyone in ONE place??

fire jas wedding

So one of our favorite gifts we got was the signature quilt that Megan made for us. She put fabric blocks out for everyone to write notes to us on, and then quilted them together into this exquisite quilt. The colors match our wedding day – a beautiful red-orange-yellow fall day in Massachusetts. It’s super fun to read and re-read the messages all our loved ones left for us.

close-up photo of jas quilt

And the quilt itself is such good quality that I’m not worried about ruining it in the wash, or leaving it out as decoration on the couch. Thank you Megan, for such a thoughtful gift that keeps on reminding us of all the love in our life!

jas&timquilt

 

 

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The Turkeys Are Here!

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Here’s an update on this post I wrote about making quilts for my childhood summer camp. The turkey blocks have arrived! I sent blocks to camp to be decorated and they’ve flown back to me. I photographed them in sets for detail’s sake. I sent two different sizes. ‘Cause I’m cool like that. Here are the smaller, rectangular ones.

Small turkeys 2 Small turkeys 1

Small turkeys 3

As you can see from the last photo, I got some extras back that were not decorated. Which is completely fine! When making a signature quilt or collaborative project I ALWAYS make more blocks than I think are needed. They can always go on the back or be made into something else. I’d much rather have this problem than the uncomfortable one of not having enough for everyone who wanted to participate.

Okay, here are the next set of turkeys. These blocks are larger and (as you can tell if you passed kindergarten) square shaped.

Large turkeys 1 Large turkeys 4 Large turkeys 3 Large turkeys 2Look! I even got some of those hand-turkeys I was talking about in my last post. Also some really intricate Zentangle-like blocks that are so artistic and awesome! Lots of feathers and tracks.

The final photo is of the maker’s block. I sent this one off to camp with the request that all of the artists identify themselves so I can give them credit. Didn’t expect anything this beautiful in return. Preeeeetty.

Maker's block

Also, the Bears’ quilt is completely finished! Pieced by Betsy Huffman and quilted by Nancy Dewire.

bears done

That’s all for now folks! I’ll post another update on the clan quilts as we get further along in this process.

Turtles, Turkeys, Wolves and Bears Oh My!

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I love collaborative projects. They’re always such an adventure. This one is for the lodge at my childhood summer sleep-away camp, Crystal Lake Camps. I have such awesome memories of this place and the people I met there. So when the idea was pitched on the alumni Facebook page to make clan animal themed quilts for four rooms I was eager to help.

There many ways campers are grouped together at CLC. One is by age, which determines your cabin assignment. Another is girls’ camp and boys’ camp. Also your skill level in classes like swimming and horseback riding. Clans are something different and special. Boys, girls, and counselors of all ages are split into four groups: turtles, turkeys, wolves and bears. These clan groups compete in events like blueberry picking and tug-of-war, make their own cheers, and sit together at council fire. It’s another opportunity for bonding and though I haven’t been to camp since 2001 I’m still a proud turtle.

So here’s what we’ve done so far for these four clans… starting with the turtles ’cause, well… I’m a turtle. I’m collecting blocks that have a light blue background and one or more turtles on them. The blocks’ measurements must be divisible by 3, so they’re not the same size but I can puzzle them all together. So with seam allowances, you can have 3.5″ x 3.5″ all the way up to 15.5″ by 15.5″ and anything in-between. Here are some of the blocks that have been made.

more turtles coming in

 

I’m the maker behind this one. Can you tell? Its shell is crumb-pieced then reverse appliqued under the blue fabric and the rest is hand-embroidered. 12x15 turtle

Okay. Onto the turkeys quilts. This lodge room gets two because it has a set of twin beds.  I’m also coordinating this project. I sent off some quilt blocks to the alumni reunion weekend along with fabric markers. I haven’t gotten them back yet but am so excited to see what everybody wrote/drew on them for the turkeys quilt! I’m kind of hoping I get a hand print turkey or two back. Do you remember making those in elementary school for Thanksgiving? Anyway, alumni weekend was populated with several generations of alumni and their children so I’m sure the quilts will be awesome. Here’s what some of the blocks looked like before decorations.

turkeys

The next two quilt tops are for the wolves and bears. Their very talented maker Betsy Huffman gave me permission to share them with you guys. Another volunteer will quilt and finish them. So all four quilts are technically still UFOs (unfinished objects)…. with a lot of love put into them. See?

bear quilt

Yes, that bear quilt has a cat on it. My cats are also quilt-inspectors. I love how Betsy included the traditional “bear paw” block as one of her borders.

wolf quiltI love the howling wolf in the corner of this quilt. Did you notice that Betsy also made matching pillowcases? She said she made them with the leftovers from making these quilts. What a good idea.