Gilding the Lily, Part 6

Hello everyone Are you ready for the wedding quilt reveal? Today, I’ll focus on the quilting itself, the design element that transformed a pretty good quilt into something rather special!

Here it is! The quilting design was inspired by a Carolina Lily quilt I'd seen online. Masterfully stitched by Carla Barrett of Feathered Fibers, its elegant feather motif and heavy background quilting were just the look I was hoping for. Nevertheless, I had some reservations:

James and Rachel's Wedding Quilt

(Double click photos to enlarge)

1. Could I find a machine quilter capable of doing such refined work? The answer was yes! Thanks to readers, I got several recommendations.

2. Could I actually afford a custom long-arm quilter? To be honest, I was terrified to even ask about the going rate!

3. Could the task be completed within my 6-7 week deadline? Come on, who would even take a commission like this on such short notice? Most good long-arm quilters have a waiting list of months, if not years!

4. Could I bear to send the quilt to a stranger miles from home? As it turns out, NO, I could not!

My friend, Sheila, suggested I call someone from our local quilt group. Her name is Cheri Gabrielsen, she lives right in town, her rates were affordable, and she could take my quilt and meet my deadline. The only problem was she couldn’t start the job until she returned from a machine quilting conference where she was taking a class with…guessed who... Carla Barrett of Feathered Fibers. What were the chances of that?

As you can see, Cheri did a fabulous job with the quilting and I couldn't be happier with the results!

Many other talented women had a hand in making this quilt, from the friends who stitched blocks and those who assembled them, to the volunteers who added the finishing touches. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. James and Rachel were very pleased with their wedding gift!