Free Motion Mavericks - Week 137 - The Wedding and the Quilt

Irish bride, English groom, married at last and looking so perfect together!  My son Alastair and lovely Leah walked down the aisle last Saturday. 

Being Mother of the Groom has to be a whole lot easier than being Mother of the Bride, but there were a few little details to help out with.  Ally could cope with the cufflinks, but he didn't have any quilt pins on him to keep his buttonhole secure.   

The wedding was at Holy Rosary Church at Greystones in County Wicklow.  Not only was this a match made in Heaven, but the colour matching was the work of Heaven too.  It wasn't until about a fortnight before the wedding that I found out that Ally, the Best Man and Groomsmen would be wearing blue, and the day before the wedding that Leah's mum Evelyn would be in blue too. 

The reception afterwards was at Tinakilly House.  It was a lively affair.  Spontaneous dancing around the tables broke out between the main course and dessert.  My brother took this mini video of the fiddler visiting the table next to his.

During the speeches Evelyn and I were both presented with massive bouquets - easy for Evelyn to take home, but mine had to wait three days before a trip on the ferry back to England.  I now have a rustic display of Canterbury bells, roses and greenery in the front window.

I gave Ally and Leah their quilt the day before the wedding.  This picture was taken back in February at our house.  I was delighted to find that the colours went far better in their house than in ours.  Perhaps one day I shall take some artier pictures, but for the time being these shall have to do.

The quilt is made up of eleven panels using the quilt as you go method, with batik joining strips.

The larger pieces of fabric in the top are all Oakshott shot cottons, combining the discontinued hand-woven stripes with machine-woven plain colours.  Every panel features either oak leaves (for England) or shamrock leaves, and I featured some photos of the details of the quilting on demonstration videos - berries, Jacobean leaves, and honeysuckle.  A design I used for the first time was poppy heads, which I shall find an excuse to use again as soon as possible.

The red fabric at the centre of the quilt features quilted rudbeckias, one of my favourite designs.

The strips of small printed cotton squares serve a dual purpose - a guide for keeping the quilting even, and a bit of colour and gratuitous fun.  The Union Jacks are there to remind Leah where she found Ally, and the teapots to remind them that morning tea is the key for a  happy marriage.

All the piecing and joining was done with my 1916 Singer 99K hand machine, and all the quilting with my 1945 Singer 15K treadle.

I have heaved a big sigh of relief - Ally and Leah love their quilt.  And we all loved their wedding!  A big vote of thanks to Bob and Evelyn for their outstanding hospitality and generosity!

Here goes for Week 137..

The project that caught my eye in Week 136 was Andrée's tea time quilt.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and have a closer look.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post and/or grab the linky button for your blog's sidebar.
  
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland and Brazil have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Linking up with Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday
and Amanda Jean's blog Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday.