Jean and Ben’s wedding gift quilt

A3 size, this small wall quilt started with a vase – as have the others posted recently. The vase made from transparent fabric was shaped after a lovely glass rose vase, spherical and tapering in at the top, given to me many years ago by my dear sister Judi, the mother of my beautiful niece, and bride-to-be, Jean. An idea for the background on which to place the vase presented as a seascape. They live seaside. As always, ideas morphed – the fabrics used morphed more exactly and earlier ones discarded: but the theme remained: that of a full moon over Port Phillip bay.

I decided to dispense with anything resembling a cloth on a table, preferring to let the vase ‘float’. The next most important issue was to place the cut flowers in the vase, which I’d already decided would be roses. It started with layering various white fabrics to build up the blossoming of one main feature rose. Eventually that project was put to one side (no doubt to blossom into a quilt at a later date) in favour of a bunch of white roses. It was assembled from cutting up a piece of lace I had fortuitously kept amongst the container marked ‘non-cottons’. It was quite an elaborate piece of embroidered fabric that I felt gave pomp, ceremony and gravitas to the occasion. And, Jean’s bridal bouquet was of beautiful musk-coloured roses in bloom.

Usually the naming of the quilts comes after completion, though names are thrown up during the process of construction. As a quilt to commemorate the special occasion of the commitment by two people, Jean and Ben to each other in marriage, it became “Love blossoms: love blooms”, (with active verbs rather than nouns)…though I’m still not satisfied that the title covers such a special moment in life! And what a wonderful wedding it was...congratulations Jean and Ben!