Needles

A friend of mine, who does not sew or quilt, was sent one of these blocks. The attached letter said:

One of the features of their wedding is the custom chappah that a good friend......is quilting for the couple. I hope you can help us in the creation of this wonderful gift by designing the enclosed square with your good wishes. you can sew on it, use fabric markers to share your thoughts or create a design, or even iron on a special photo(they have the materials to do this a your local craft store!).....the problem is....I haven't a clue as to what to do. I was thinking of a Star of David with a cross and initials and wedding date... I even went to the Shabbat house yesterday but no one was there. any ideas...photos , drawings. Gladly welcomed. I never did anything like this before !

The bride was raised Jewish and Catholic, but is now of Jewish faith. The groom is Christian. Since my forte` is basically sewing, and not quilting, thought putting this quandry up to others who are knowledgeable, would get some ideas that might be easy for her to do. I told her what I would do but hoping a few other ideas would spike a creative talent she didn't know existed if it were easy. I've never done one of these blocks myself. My quilting experience is only raggedy quilts. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

ManiacQuilter2

She doesn't have to quilt anything on it. She can write whatever she things is appropriate onto the square of fabric such as a poem or words of wisdom. As I read it, someone else will be making it into a quilt to use in the wedding ceremony. If you have some Freezer paper, iron it to the back and make sure that none of her writing goes anywhere close to the edges. Use a Micron archival permanent pen that is available at JAF.

GagaSmith

I received something similar for a 100th birthday. I don't think your friend has to do anything dealing with the religion of either the bride or groom. I agree with maniacQuilter 2, a written antedote or poem or words of advice or best wishes would be most appropriate.

GingerK

What a lovely idea. The couple will share in a ceremony sheltered by the good wishes of their friends and family. I recently made a quilt for the DD of very good friends. On the binding I machine embroidered sayings about love. One was from their wedding invitation--The Chosen of his heart is the Chosen of her heart. But the one I found that really resonated with me was: The most precious gift we can give costs nothing. It is called Love.

Find a saying or sentiment (or make one of your own) and write it on the fabric with the marker suggested above. It will be cherished.

Needles

Oh, my, these are great ideas. Thank you so much. I think I'll keep a file just in case I am asked for something like this in the future. And I will highlight the part about staying away from the edges, leaving room for seams. By the way, I love all the signature lines, especially the last one. So very true.

Farm Quilter

At my step-daughter's wedding I had guests sign blank rectangles of fabric and told them to leave 1/2" edges all around...they kinda got it, but some still got into the seam allowance. I have Delectable Mountain blocks made for my daughter's guest book, ironed freezer paper to the back and had mats made as frames that keep my 1/4" seam allowance hidden. I'll take pictures since her wedding in August 1 and post them here of how it looks for the signers and what I end up with. Much better then a book that you never look at again! I love the idea of what they are doing...it will be beautiful - sure hope we can see pictures!!!

LindaM

I did a quilt like this for my parents' 40th wedding anniversary - sent squares to family and close friends. Got back a wonderful assortment of painted, embroidered, photo squares, lots of variety. Make sure you leave enough space around the edge for the seams! I sent mine out with the edges marked so the people wouldn't put their designs where they would end up in seams. It would also be good to ensure whatever goes into the square, can be washed.

Definitely find something that is special between the wedding couple and the person who the square is from, but I'd leave the date etc to the person putting the quilt together.