Linked – A Wedding Quilt for Grant and Robyn

I've named this quilt "Linked" and it is a wedding gift for Grant and Robyn. Grant is the son of a good friend and they were married last September. I'm late I know, but that's how I roll.

Pat, Grant's Mom, gave me some ideas for colours and so I pulled these from my stash and paired them with Sketch in light grey for the background. The darker central squares are from a dark mottled grey fabric. I can't remember what it's called but it has a weight similar to the shot cottons. The binding is a scrappy mix of leftover fabrics from the blocks.

The back is a large piece of fabric I was so happy to find at IKEA when we were in Edmonton last summer. As soon as I saw it, I knew it would match the quilt fabrics perfectly ... and it does! I also like that is has gems on it. I added a little bit of coordinating fabrics to make it the right size.

The pattern I used is "Movement in Squares", a free downloadable pattern at Ivory Spring. It came together rather quickly. What was different for me was that I really had to plan which fabrics I was going to use where before I started. I'm used to being able to move blocks around once they're made but you can't do that with this pattern.

The pattern instructions said to press seams to the side but after doing that with two blocks and being unhappy with the look and with the way my seams didn't match up nicely, I remade the squares with seams pressed open and it worked so much better. The blocks looked better in general and the seams matched up nicely. I just don't get pressing seams to one side. I so much prefer pressing them open even if it does take longer. I should also add that I don't recommend cutting all your fabric before starting to sew. I found I had lots of leftover strips that I didn't even touch. Those are what I used for the binding but as I read the instructions, I think they were meant for the blocks. I'm confused. I'm not sure if I misunderstood the instructions or if the instructions were wrong. It might just have been me. It's probably me because I believe it's a popular pattern.

For this project, I needed to be very organized. I used one paper plate per block. I wrote the block "letter" on the plate and kept the pieces for that block on its plate until the block was complete. It worked for me.

Lisa kindly quilted this with an all-over boxy pattern using her longarm quilting machine. I love it!

I even allowed myself to be in a quilt photo! Mom's idea.

Quilt Stats:

1. Name: Linked
2. Size: 55" x 62" (58" x 65" before washing)
3. Pattern: Movement in Squares
4. Fabrics: Sketch in light grey for background and various fabrics from my stash (mostly Denyse Schmidt Chicopee) and an Ikea fabric for the back with some stash fabrics.
5. Quilting: Longarm quilted by Lisa

 Pssst – Now I need to get going on a baby quilt for this couple. And I'd better hurry!
  
April 23 - I finished the label. It's now ready to deliver!

I used a  vintage handkerchief that had a monogrammed W on it, the first letter of their last name.