The Wedding

Hi Everyone,

I know I've been absent again, but in the time I was we had a Big Event!  My daughter, our only child, got married.  The couple was only engaged about 6 months, but in that time, they planned a really wonderful wedding.

The big night was Friday, March 11, at the Indiana Children's Museum and what an event it was.  So many people said it was the most fun wedding they had ever attended--and I agreed.

I began the festivities with my daughter in the morning, going to the hair salon with her and the bridesmaids.

These are pictures of her getting her hair done.  Everyone kept remarking on all the hair!

The final result

After the hair was done, we went to lunch, where we all had pizza, except the bride, who had salad.

Then we headed to the museum.

I may have mentioned that the wedding would have a bit of a dinosaur theme...  The reception would be inside the Dinosphere.  Anyway, just as I snapped this picture outside, my phone battery went in the red!!!  I had no charger along with me.  

The bride and we ladies would be changing in the Manor--a Victorian mansion adjacent to the museum.

This is the room we were given--the picture is from their website--that isn't my daughter's dress!

Anyway, once we carried everything in, I sat in my daughter's car so as to charge my phone, until one of the bridemaids told me she had a wall charger along--then we all took turns plugging in to it.

In the end, it really didn't matter, since I never got a chance to take many pictures.  Have you had a daughter get married before?  It was all such a whirlwind of emotions, and seemed to flash by in seconds.  

We all were ready by 5 when pictures started.  Jessica hired a really wonderful photographer, and she kept them busy taking lots of fun photos all over the museum right until the ceremony began at 7.

My mom took this picture.  It still makes me cry a bit--she is so beautiful!

Here is my husband walking her down the aisle.

Cutting the cake in the Dinosphere

After we had eaten and the cake was cut, we went back to the atrium for dancing.

Their first dance.

The Father and Bride dance.  More tears!!!

My husband and I

The festivities wrapped up by ten, and then we had until 11 to get cleaned up.

I did get this picture of the bride getting ready to leave.  I loved her flowers!

I loaded up my daughter's car and drove it back to the hotel--she had left with her new husband, of course!  

It seemed like it was over so quickly.  Other than the festivities, I loved having so much family come.  My older sister and her husband flew in from southern California, and one of their sons and his girlfriend came from Colorado.  My mother-in-law flew in from North Dakota.  It seemed like I didn't get enough of a chance to visit with all of them, though.  

I think I'll write another blog post later about all of the "crafting" and hard work that my daughter did to make her special day.  Here's a hint:  not only was she the bride, but she made the wedding cake, too, with the help of some friends!  

Have a great day!

JoAnne

My Moda Bake Shop ABC Birthday Quilt Along Quilt

Hi Everyone,

Boy, that title is sure a mouthful, isn't it?  As I may have mentioned in an earlier post, I had heard about this QAL several weeks ago.  I toyed with the idea of making a quilt with patriotic words at first, but I just couldn't get excited about it, so I moved the project to the back of my mind.  Then about 2 weeks ago, I read a quote on Facebook and got excited.

Do you ever get so excited about a project that you immediately grab paper and begin sketching out the idea?  And as it takes hold, you forget about any other projects, responsibilies, or even other fun events?  That was happening with me.  As soon as I sketched it out, I got right to cutting and sewing.

I used a fat quarter bundle of Moda's Red, White, and Free by Sandy Gervais that I had on my shelf.  I also had yardage of the background fabric and some of the other pieces.  I was two thirds finished when I realized I would need more background.  I did a Google search and wasn't having much luck.  Finally, after a page or two of results, there was a link to a shop that I've been ordering from for years, The Stitching Post, located in Southern Indiana.  They had some!  There was 2 1/4 yard left so I ordered it.  The next day I was out for a while and when I got home there was a message on my machine.  My heart sunk when I saw it was The Stitching Post calling--I figured that they no longer had the fabric.  I was wrong, though!  They actually had more and were calling to see if I needed more!  Talk about fabulous customer service.  We chatted for a bit and finally the owner asked if I or my husband had been in the service as she had several addresses from me in the system!  I laughed and said, "Yes, but now we are retired here in Indiana, too."  I would love to one day visit the actual shop.  With every order I have placed, it arrives with a personal note, handwritten on the form.  I love that.

Anyway, once I had more fabric, I was able to resume.  Besides all of the words, I needed some filler blocks.  I wanted to make them with the neutral fabrics so that they would be less visible and not take away attention from the quote.

It was fun to play with these fabrics and still get fun blocks, even though the contrast is low among the pieces.

Once I had all of the words completed, I was looking it over and realized I had made some of the "A's" different.  About half were this way:

(with long legs)

And half were this way:

(wish short legs)

Grr!  I decided in the end that it wasn't bothering me enough to change things.  Just a note here:  the patterns for the letters, Spell it with Moda, call for using 2.5" strips.  To get my quote to fit on a smaller size, I had to make them half the size, using 1.5" strips.

Finally on Monday, I got the entire quilt top finished.  I am really happy with it!

This quote means so much to me.  I'm so glad that I was able to fit it into a quilt.  Just a note here:  the patterns for the letters, Spell it with Moda, call for using 2.5" strips.  To get my quote to fit on the size quilt I wanted, I had to make them half the size, using 1.5" strips.  The finsihed quilt size is 63" square.  I was surprised about that--I had realized it would be 63" wide early on, but I had no idea how long it would become with all of the spacer strrips included.

All of the fabric is Moda, aside from the star field in the flag.  I have no idea who designed it.

And all of the Moda was from the Red, White, and Free line except what I used for the word, soldier.  I decided that should be different, and camoflage.  Luckily Moda had another line, "Because of the Brave" which had the perfect fabric.

I had one design challenge:  As you can see, I used the light blue background to highlight some of the words:  Flag, Breath, Soldier, Protecting.  I wanted to highlight another word, and Fly, Wind, and Moves were the choices.  After thinking about it, I decided on Moves, as it referenced "moving" to me, which describes the quote--I find it moving.

Now that this project is finished, I will admit that I'm feeling a bit like the day after Christmas--let down and depressed--in other words, the excitement is over.  For now.  There will be other projects!  (I'm just not sure what to focus on next.  I expect my husband would appreciate it if I did some grocery shopping!)

Have a wonderful day!
JoAnne