A Wedding Quilt

A month or two before the wedding, my daughter-in-law-to-be emailed me and said she'd seen an idea on the internet where the wedding guests are asked to sign fabric squares instead of a guest book, and she wondered if I might be able to help her do whatever needed to be done.  Of course I would, but when she first brought the idea up, I was getting ready to leave for vacation, so it was a couple weeks before I was able to get back to her to find out what she had in mind.  "Sarah," I asked in an email to her, "what were you thinking of for colors?"  You see, I knew she hadn't picked a color theme for the wedding, so I had no idea where to start.  In response, she sent me three photos of succulents--I've included two here; the third was so similar to the other two that I didn't upload it.

That evening, I was at the quilt shop for Thimbleberries Club, so I took a little time to search for "succulent fabric."  Several people asked me what colors I was looking for, and that was my reply:  "Succulents."  Well, needless to say, it was worth a good laugh or two; the newlyweds are certainly original thinkers, aren't they?!  Eventually, though, I pulled together fabrics in a few shades of green, a couple grays, a couple yellows, a purplish pink, and a lavender.  Oh, and I think I threw in a few pieces of grunge white too.

Altogether, I cut about 80 pieces of fabric, 6-1/2" by 4-1/2" (because I think maybe a "modern quilt" with rectangular squares might appeal to the couple more than a more traditional design) and I backed each with freezer paper.  As a surprise, I made a memory box in which the signed squares could be collected during the reception and then later used by the couple to hold mementos

At the wedding, I handed out fabric squares and invited the guests to write a personal message for the bride and groom or, if they suffered writer's block, to at least sign and date the squares.  I explained seam allowances and why they shouldn't write too close to the edge of the fabric.  I handed out permanent ink pens.  I told the guests where they could find the box so they could leave their messages in it, and I also went around to each table later in the evening and collected up all of the squares that were left on the tables.

There were a few guests--mostly family members--who opted to sign a square later, so I left everything at the bride's mom's house for the time being.  Once I get the squares in the next couple weeks, I'll see how many squares we have and plan a quilt design.  That first photo of succulents looks like it could provide some inspiration as a quilt concept since the succulents are arranged in groups resembling squares.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.  Succulents.  Sheesh!