Heirloom Guestbook

Heirloom Guestbook

August 1st, 2010 @ 3:05 pm by Mrs. Sand Dollar
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It’s important to me to be able to preserve something tangible from our wedding day. Photos are fabulous, and albums these days are works of art. However, I love the idea of someday having our grandchildren inherit a memento of the day we began our lives together. That’s why we chose to do a quilt for our guestbook.

(source)

I think whoever came up with this idea was a genius. I’ve never really been a guestbook fan in general, so I think joining it with something practical, not merely a display piece, will make me very happy. I’ll always think of happy memories as we curl up beneath it together on the couch. I bought a Moda jellyroll from a quilt shop for 20 dollars to make the base from, and plan to supplement it if needed after the wedding. It looks kind of like this.

(from Etsy seller Karamat)

Basically it’s kind of like a quilt-top kit, where you get 40 pieces of pre-cut, coordinating fabric from the designer’s line. Cute idea, yeah? This makes it pretty easy. I also want to quilt it all by hand, most likely with Mr. SD’s grandmother, who was an avid seamstress. The problem is, where do they sign? Do I get dark pens and hope they choose to write well? Will it obscure the pretty design? For any of you that have had or plan to have a quilt guestbook with modern fabrics, what did you do? Did your plan turn out OK?

Tags: guestbook, houston |

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13 Responses to “Heirloom Guestbook”

Member

slicey19 (message) 2,844 posts, Sugar bee

great idea! my mom did something similar but on a smaller scale for my Grandmother’s 75th birthday and also hand stitched the squares together. She alternated white squared with the patterns in order to include the names and birth dates of all the kids and grand kids. It came out really nice and, in her case, the white coordinated with the fabrics while allowing her to use coordinating colors to write. Maybe you can think about alternating in a solid color or using solid squares as one side and using your jelly roll as the other side but that may be a lot to hand sew.

8/1/10 @ 3:50 pm (reply)

Member

crazyquilter (message) 34 posts, Newbee

I would alternate white or some other neutral color that corresponds with your fabric with a block you make out of the strips. Or you could border each block with white and have guests sign around each block. You could create a border around the whole quilt (with an outer border around it) that guests sign. There are tons of possibilities, it depends on what looks good to you and how many guests you have to sign.

8/1/10 @ 5:38 pm (reply)

Member

ashleed (message) 118 posts, Blushing bee

I love this idea!!! I can’t wait to see the outcome!

8/1/10 @ 5:42 pm (reply)

Member

labrat (message) 472 posts, Helper bee

What a wonderful idea! I’d love to do something like this if I could find a permanent pen that wouldn’t wash out. I thought about cutting my dress up to make a decorative quilt. =)

8/1/10 @ 6:14 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Glasses (message) 2,741 posts, Sugar bee

Oooo, that’s a cute idea. What are you gonna do with it once it’s all signed up?

8/1/10 @ 7:31 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Trail Mix (message) 6,328 posts, Bee Keeper

No suggestions or answers to your questions but I wanted to say that this is an awesome idea!

8/1/10 @ 10:37 pm (reply)

Guest

Danielle

I was so excited when I saw your post! We also did a quilt for our ‘guestbook’, and it turned out really well. All you have to do is find a patternless (or very light patterned) fabric that matches and incorporate it into the quilt layout so people can sign or write messages to you. We bought our pens from Hobby Lobby for just a couple dollars a piece - just look for fine tipped fabric pens and you’ll be fine. The signatures/notes were perfectly clear, and it will be something we will cherish forever! I can’t wait to see how yours turns out!

8/1/10 @ 10:43 pm (reply)

Member

katybug (message) 48 posts, Newbee

We did a guest quilt as well, but at our showers. Danielle is correct about the fabric pens you can find at Hobby Lobby or Michael’s. I would suggest looking for a thicker tip (more like a Sharpie) as they are easier to write with. We also tried having our guests write in Sharpie and then going over the messages with the fine tipped fabric pens to ensure that the message would still be readable after we washed the quilt. My mom is still working on quilting, as she is doing on her home sewing machine, but right now the top is finished and it is beautiful in our wedding colors. You will truly treasure it forever.

8/1/10 @ 11:16 pm (reply)

Guest

Sarah

One of the quilters I know hand-embroiders over the signatures–that takes care of any fading or bleeding, and allows you complete control over the color. That being said, hello, time suck!

8/2/10 @ 10:39 am (reply)

10.

Bee

Miss Husky (message) 1,754 posts, Buzzing bee

I love this idea!

8/2/10 @ 10:42 am (reply)

11.

Member

kms31690 (message) 150 posts, Blushing bee

Wow. I love this idea. Its so cute! FI’s mother is an avid quilter. I might have to discuss this with her. Thanks for the idea!

8/2/10 @ 11:22 am (reply)

12.

Member

missmerlee (message) 45 posts, Newbee

I’m planning on doing this as well since my aunt is a quilter. I can’t wait to see how yours turns out!!

8/2/10 @ 1:11 pm (reply)

13.

Member

sidwuzhere (message) 32 posts, Newbee

I love this idea and was thinking of using a quilt as my guestbook, as well. FI’s mom is a quilter and has already offered up her services if I need them. Can’t wait to see how yours turns out.

9/3/10 @ 2:33 pm (reply)