How to Make an Unconventional Wedding Quilt

1. Use whatever imagery speaks to you, not just the traditional wedding symbols.

A floral turtle appliqued onto turtle background fabric? Of course.

An iris with multicolor leaves? Why not?

2. Mix the old with the new. Whenever possible, include traditional blocks (such as Baltimore Albums) sewn impeccably by your applique whiz mother in bright, beautiful fabrics.

Dimensional touches such as buds made from fabric half-circles make things even more fun.

So does anything that includes lots and lots of hearts.

And let’s just revisit adding dimension. Ruched flowers? So welcome.

3. Surprise yourself. Not usually one to sew with loud, unexpected pattern combinations? Me neither. Try it anyway.

I think you’ll find you’re cheered by the unexpected.

It’s been said many times before, that one of the beauties of quilting is making something whole out of many small and different pieces. Remember all those feedsack quilts of yore? And Victorian crazy quilts? How they transformed individual fabrics with loud personalities of their own to puzzle pieces with perfect fits?

Well, I’m thinking a lot about that as we continue to make these quilt blocks–still without a sewing machine. I have plenty of time to ponder over my hand-stitching, and those thoughts keep bringing me back to how unexpectedly fun making this quilt is.

How over and over as we picked out fabrics for it, my mom and I would say, “I wouldn’t pick this fabric for myself, but I think it will suit those two as a couple.” And how over and over as I iron and fold and fussy cut from these fabrics now, pairing them in crazy combinations, I fall in love with them. Heck, I would love to have this quilt on my own bed.

Is this a lesson? A demonstration that life, too, can be put together like a sampler quilt, fussy cutting pieces from the experiences I don’t warm to at first, putting them next to the moments of contentment and bliss?

Until I’ve somehow pieced together some cohesive whole?

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