There was a back up plan but it would have been standing room only in the barn so everyone was really hoping the clouds and rain would give way to some sunshine (or at least no rain). Kent was watching the radar and kept giving encouragement. Eventually there were little patches of dry weather and the wedding party finally made it outside for pictures at about 2:20 (rain again at 3:30) and the sun came out just in time for Tannis to walk through the awesome door her dad built and down the aisle.
In keeping with tradition, I of course made Tannis a quilt for a wedding gift. I asked for her input and suggested she look at my blog to see if anything caught her eye. She said that her favorites were Jenni's wedding quilt and Annie's graduation quilt. From that I figured she must like scrappy. Not necessarily scraps and left overs but lots of different fabrics. She also said she liked "yellow, grey and ivory (her wedding colors) with splashes of orange and pink". Then she added "bright, fun florals". Yikes! I don't consider yellow, grey and ivory bright, but at least I had a launching point. After all, I get to do what I want.
I found a pattern called "Gypsy Girl" in a book I already had called "Fat Quarter Five" by Heather Mulder Peterson and knew right away that this was the pattern I wanted to use. It calls for 21 fat quarters as well as additional fabric for the background, binding and backing. I took the pattern and went to Hollyhill Quilt Shop back in January in search of the fabric. All the fat quarters are from the "Curio" collection by Basic Grey. I went back again a few weeks later to purchase a background fabric and then had everything I needed to take the project on the road to Arizona.
This is the basic block and there are 31 of them, but it's not constructed how you might think. The four blue squares start out as one 5 1/2" square with two 5 1/2" long rectangles sewn on opposite sides and then two 10" long rectangles sewn to the remaining sides. After the block is pressed and proofed to 10" it is carefully cut exactly in half in both directions and then sewn back together with the addition of the cream colored strips. Getting those strips to line up straight was a good challenge. Don't look too close.
The quilt blocks are set on the diagonal with large setting triangles attached to the ends of each row. The pieced outside border is cut 6" wide but the lengths are random. It's the overall length that is important. The finished quilt measures 69" x 83".
When I was pairing up the fat quarters I started doubting myself. I couldn't believe that these fabrics all came from the same collection. I could wander all over a fabric shop and never come up with this combination. Another thing I didn't like was having duplicate prints, just in different colors. For example, the larger floral print comes in orange, blue and yellow. Then I would recall what Tannis had asked me for and worry that maybe this was not it. I actually thought about starting over but as I kept sewing the blocks and then the rows together, it seemed more pleasing. I starting really liking it and finished the top before we left Arizona.
I delivered it to June at Quiltmasters in April for quilting. We looked at several patterns and finally settled on "Manchester", a quilting design that I had never used before. It finished the quilt off perfectly and I went from liking it to loving it. And so did Tannis. She opened it the night before the wedding so that I could watch (and Kevin, too).
Tannis and Kevin are living in Edmonton where Tannis works as a nurse in the emergency department of the Grey Nuns Hospital and Kevin is an engineer (not at the hospital. I forget where he works). For now they are happy in the big city living in their new home, but they are country folk at heart. It was wonderful to see how happy they are together.
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