Wedding Quilt... The Finished Edition

I am thrilled to show my finished Wedding Quilt, which has now been delivered to the happy couple.

Last July, I set out to make a quilt for my husband's cousin and her husband-to-be.  I did not know their tastes but thankfully, there was a great description of their preferences on their registry:

We love sea tones and earthy, organic styles. Blues and greens are our favorite. K's ultimate color is turquoise/aqua, and P's first choice is forest green. Our house is "country" as opposed to modern...

Note to future brides: this helped a lot!!!

Here was my first fabric pull.  I added some dark greens and a brown to the mix.

The piecing went together quickly, and before long, I had this: 

 

(Clearly, my front lawn is a popular spot for pictures...)

Then I hit a few stumbling blocks.  I did not want to buy yardage for the backing, but when I looked at the fabric I was thinking of using, it just did not fit.  So I had to piece.  I love a pieced backing, but  I find them quite tedious.  I am still not 100% pleased with the back, but at some point, you have to let it go.

On the bright side, I did get to use two fabulous fat quarters, courtesy of my travelling husband, with scenes of Seattle and Washington State. 

 

I remember thinking, when my husband brought these home "what am I ever going to do with those?"  turns out they are perfect additions to a quilt back for a couple who lives near Seattle!

My second stumbling block was the basting, which I first did on a late night, only to discover tons of puckers the next morning.

Arghhh!  The quilt sat there for a few weeks before I mustered the courage and the energy to remove all those pins and start over.

Finally, I hesitated for a few nights before settling on the quilting design.  Once I got going, I was done in a few evenings.  I used various threads in beige, green, aqua and brown and quilted random wavy lines.

Here is a view of the back where you can see the quilting better: 

This was taken after the quilt was washed.  I love the texture!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I added some trees here and there, quilted the word "love" and "forever" and the bride and groom's names.  I added my initials and the year.  It was my first time quilting words and names, and I really liked this.  These were taken before washing the quilt.

Binding was a breeze, hand stitched during kids sports activities.  I still can't believe my luck for finding this binding fabric after completing the quilt.  It could not have been more perfect!

I ran out of time to make a hand-embroidered label, so I used my machine and free motioned a few words.  Because the names and the date was already quilted, I did not add them to the label. 

Taking pictures of the completed quilt was a difficult task since I had no adult on hand.  I did not thing the lawn shot was adequate, so I enlisted a couple pint size quilt holders:

Good effort, but they are missing a few inches. 

 

So I took my quilt to work, offered to accompany an unsuspecting colleague on her lunchtime errands, waiting for the perfect combination of location and light.  There were nicer spots along the way, but the sun kept hiding at the most inopportune moments.  There's my best shot:

 

 

I enjoyed making this quilt, and I think the recipients like it.

 

I am linking up to TGIFF and Finish Up Friday - hop over to see what other people have finished!