Weddingbee Blog

Whew! Even though our wedding was nine months ago, I’ve just now finished sewing our guestbook quilt! Why did it take so long? Well, like a crazy person, I decided to hand embroider each and every message on our 40 signed blocks. I was afraid that over time the fabric pen might fade, and I wanted each name and wish to last a lifetime. After all, quilts are often heirlooms, so why not go all out?

Here’s a good example of one of the blocks: teeny tiny writing crammed all over the block. So yeah, I watched a lot of episodes of CSI while embroidering on the couch. Mr. Sand Dollar thought I was nuts, but the end product is soooo worth it! Once I had them all embroidered, I laid out the blocks on my craft room floor in a pattern I liked.

If you’re curious as to where I got these blocks, I purchased what’s called a “jelly roll.” It’s a sampling of coordinating fabric all from one line, and I chose a Moda roll for $20 on sale. Yet even after they were all laid out, I thought it looked a bit too small, and a little loud for my taste. It needed a bit of a buffer in between each row. So I searched my supply, and found an awesome mocha-colored bamboo sheet set that I bought from Target for my bed, but had replaced with a blue color. Perfect!

I cut the strips to length from the fitted sheet, and had enough left over to make a border. I used the flat sheet for the backing, and it’s perfect. So soft and snuggly! I’m a huge fan of these Target organic bamboo sheets. I also splurged way back in my wedding planning days for some queen-sized organic cotton batting. It’s not nearly as stiff as the man-made stuff, and now I feel pretty awesome that our wedding quilt is made from 100% natural materials (the blocks are cotton too, from what I understand.)

See how huge it is? I was surprised to find that with the addition of the brown stripes and border, it totally fits as a quilt for our queen size bed! You know, the one the mister and I built by hand, with our also handmade guestbook bench sitting at the foot. I’d say that’s one handcrafted bedroom, wouldn’t you? (*Side note: I plan to re-stain the bed a darker color to fit in more with our decor and style. As much as I heart orange, it’s not a fav of mine for furniture. It’s my bad for picking a totally wrong stain color, and now I have to wait until I’m not all knocked up to restain it!)

To finish things off, I raided my fabric supply to create some pretty edge banding. The brown and blues fit in with the colors of the quilt while still standing out. I love it! I can’t wait to see how well it ages over the years. I took my time with the quilting of it, and though it’s not perfect, it’s pretty awesome for me. I’ve done two quilts prior to this one, and “jacked up” wouldn’t even begin to cover it. So I’m really pleased that I was able to make this one look so pretty, even if it’s not professional quality.

So there you have it! My very last wedding project is now complete. Even better is I beat my goal of getting it done within a year of the wedding! Did anybody else do a wedding quilt for a guestbook? How did yours turn out?