A Wedding Quilt

At 11:00 yesterday morning, I attended a wedding.  At 4:15 in the afternoon, I put the final stitches in a quilt, wrapped it up, and left at 5:30 for the reception.  I'd started planning the quilt last November, but still, it came down to the wire.  Ah, well.

When I make quilts for wedding gifts, I often base the design on things I know about the couple - things they like to do, their careers, their names.  For example, once I made a quilt with a garden trellis-like arrangement of harmonicas, because the groom is a musician and teacher, with roses climbing up the trellis, because the bride's name is Rose.

For this wedding, I chose several traditional quilt blocks:

A Guy Named Skins

Well, I guess this is my year for really branching out from repairing only quilts.  Last winter, I had my first experience with an ancient tapestry.  In the early spring, I repaired some Japanese silk banners.  And now, I've just completed repairs of a doll.  And not just any doll - a skin diver doll.  And not just your normal, run-of-the-mill skin diver doll (if there is such a thing) - a combo skin diver / shark doll.  Really.

His name is Skins.  He came to me swaddled in a hand towel, not looking too perky.

Crazy Quilt at Home

A couple of months ago, I wrote about repairing a crazy quilt.  The owner kindly sent me a photo of the quilt as it is now hanging in his home.

Its companion, a log cabin, is also quite nice, with the juxtaposition of the clear, bright pastels and white.  They are two such different quilts, and yet make a pleasant pairing.  This is what makes quiltmaking such an appealing craft, I think - the wide, wide variety of styles and techniques and design potential.

Note that they are hung in a stairwell, probably not ever subjected to direct sun, and probably not even bright sunlight.  This will help preserve the colors and the strength of the fabrics.

The tiny bit of the quilt hung over the bannister is quite tantalizing, don't you think?

Japanese banner at home

A couple of days ago, I wrote about the Japanese banners I repaired and mounted.

Here's a photo of the longest banner, happily hanging on its wall.  What a wonderful location!  It looks almost like the banner was made to fit the stairwell - or vice versa.

Thanks to the owner for sharing this photo with me.  I'm pretty pleased with the outcome!  

Japanese banners

A friend of mine, who has done a substantial bit of world travel, asked me if I could repair four World War II banners they had purchased in Japan, and prepare them for hanging.  They are silk, and I decided to back each one with a light-weight silk.  Three are 21"-25" wide and 80" long, and one is very long, 25" wide and 126" long.

This is more than a little off my usual path, so research was called for.  I found great info at this site:
http://militaryantiquesmuseum.com/military_antiques.php

Banners - nobori - have a history of use in war and ceremony.  This website calls them "going off to war" banners:  "These commercially produced colorful banners were pre-printed with military designs. The family and friends would then personalize them with patriotic slogans and/or the soldiers/sailors name."

Embroidered Garden

Here's a crazy quilt with some very intricate and very fanciful embroidery.  This quiltmaker was really fond of swirly, trailing vine designs, and so am I, so I'm totally smitten with this quilt.  And as the owner pointed out, the stitching is incredibly even and neat.  This was made by a lady who really loved her needle and thread.

To make it even sweeter, it is a family quilt, and has lovely family history attached.  And then, even better, it has an embroidered dedication and date:  1905.

Cozy Wool

Here's a friendly, cozy wool 6-pointed star quilt.  It was made by the owner's grandmother and holds lots of family loving.

The quilt was recently washed - in the washing machine.  This is not a good idea with a wool quilt!  Washing wool in warm soapy water is the way to make felt, after all.  The quilt came through the process in surprisingly good shape.  The forest green diamonds bled onto the backing, but politely didn't bleed onto the top.  Several seams pulled open, and many ties pulled through the top.