I am doing a quilt guestbook. I want something we can hang in our house and enjoy daily as a sweet reminder of our special day. We have decided that an actual quilt is probably a bad idea, for several reasons. Reason numero uno, bed get used and abused. Small children pee in them. People get sick. Mr. Crab Cake has bloody noses when he is over tired. Then they must be washed. I’d rather not leave such a cherished heirloom to the mercies of generations of small children and grandchildren and (hopefully) great-grandchildren, along with animals. Our second reason was that we decided a quilt with hundreds of signatures on it would look strange on a bed.
After talking it out, we decided that a wall hanging would be a better choice. Even though it may end up being a very large wall hanging, due to our anticipated number of guests (at about 200).
So, then I had to worry about what kind of fabric to use. Colored or black and white, solid or patterned, and where would guest actually sign their names? Would there be space for lengthy passages, or would be just have names? Lots more little tiny decisions to be made.
After seeing this post on StyleMePretty,
I was inspired to create my own fabric.
The girl who did these squares silk screened hers. That is far too much work for me, especially with the development of SpoonFlower.
If you don’t know about SpoonFlower yet, go over and check it out. You can upload an image and they will print it on fabric. Now, the price per yard is a little steep, but considering that I would have to buy all the things needed for silk screening, I would rather just pay the exorbitant $18.00 per yard.
Anyway, now I had figured out how and where, but I needed a what.
Inspired by this post, and these tiles and these frames, I got busy designing my own fabric in paint.net.
I won’t bore you with the details of how I went about designing these, but here they are.
Tile #1
Tile #2
And now I need some help. Which do y’all like better? The crooked one would make for an interesting wall hanging, with diamond shaped blocks instead of square ones, but I kinda like the cohesiveness of the straight one. What do you guys think?
I kinda like the first one because I’m thinking about how the finished quilt will look. When you turn them on point you’ll have all diamonds which I think will look beautiful and a bit more sophisticated as wall hanging. A ‘square’ quilt will look pretty too – a little more plain in my head.
I did this too for our quest book. We only had about 50 guests and I just used plain muslin squares. I LOVE LOVE LOVE all the messages and creativity our guests used. It turned out way better than expected. Do make sure you have a girlfriend or two in charge of making sure everyone signs a square – or else people tend to forget.
NOW – 19 months AFTER our wedding I need to get in gear with actually designing the quilt an making it! I’m planning to also photo copy some photos from the wedding on fabric to incorporate. It’ll hang in our bedroom – so we need to decide on a color scheme for the bedroom so I can buy the other fabrics too. One day I’ll finish it and post the pics on the boards.
I love this idea! I think using both designs would create an interesting look, but if you are looking to use just one, I’d go with the straight one.
Love the first one! If you rotate the left 1/2 of them on the quilt 90 degrees you could even make a V pattern with the signatures. 
Very cool idea. I think both are great. With the sideways option keep in mind that some guests will flip it around and you will end up with slants in both directions (does that make sense?). That could look neat though.
Also, I would lighten the border of the box so your eye will be drawn to your guests messages, not the border. It also might overpower the pretty design you made if there is such a heavy bolding on the border.
Soudns like it is going to be a special wedding!
I’m thinking about using this idea as well (saw the same style me pretty entry). The boy is afraid it will look “too country”….so I still have some work to do. Given we’re getting married at a historic B&B that prides themselves on their old quilts I’m thinking it’s perfect! So thanks for the Spoonflower link, I’d never heard of it!
Oh and I think #1 would look cool for a wall hanging.
Ohhhhhh I get it! I just re-red your plan and you are planning on hanging the sideways one diamond-style. (Sorry I am definitely not a quilter so I didn’t even know that was an option…). I vote that one all the way then!
I like #1, but I wouldn’t have them all facing the same direction when you piece it together. I agree with adias.angel with the rotating. You could even have groups of four with /\ on top and then \/ on the bottom, if that makes sense.
I like the idea of using both and doing a checkerboard pattern. They are both gorgeous! If you want to choose just one, I like the straight one the best.
What a great idea!
use both!!!
The first one! While it’s still very symmetrical, it doesn’t seem as so compared to the second one. I’m with adias.angel and Miss Fondue!
I would go with #1. Diagonal lines create interest for the eye in art work. I think it would look awesome. I don’t know if I would mix it up there most likely won’t be equal amounts of each so there probably would be no pattern you could do it would just be random. If you like #2 then by all means do what you like more, I just think #1 would be more visually interesting. Love the pattern by the way! I cant wait to see which one you choose!
first one… but Alicherr1 may have a point. if you do both think of alternating patterns. that’ll be soo cute.. each of different colors… oohh. check it out on photoshop before. the challenge is having even numbers of both.
I say number 2 especially since the writting space seems to be small. I like the idea of doing the screen printing with the box, I can so see guests writing too close to the border of the square.
maybe try printing some out on paper and signing them then arrange them with the slanted ones or just the square ones.
Also for the center using a wordled piece describing your wedding, date, colors, place, etc. could be cute. I just came across this one:
http://justbecausejodie.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/img_1570-copy.jpg
Whoa, I didn’t realize that spoonflower was that expensive! I like the second one better, myself. It might just be the OCD in me, though.
Mrs. Crab Cake, Columbus, GA Age and Occupation: 25, Registered Nurse Fiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Director of Education and Living History for a museum Engagement Date: April 6, 2008 Wedding Date: June, 2009 Blogging Since: November 26, 2008 Venue: Holy Family Catholic Church, reception: National Infantry Museum About Me: I'm a perfectionist trying to balance two jobs, motherhood, my craft obsession, and wedding planning. I am obsessed with all things wedding, especially creative ideas for saving money and DIY projects. A Southern Belle at heart, I love anything southern, especially sweet tea, grits, afternoon thunder storms, crab cakes, and good old Southern hospitality. Mr. Crab Cake and I are planning a vintage inspired wedding with tons of Southern flare (can y'all say that with a thick Southern drawl?).
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