When she heard Zach and Ashton were getting married, my sister in law LeeAnn immediatelsuggested we make a quilt…because she’s a quilter. She suggested she make half the blocks and I make half the blocks, and she chose a Becky Goldsmith applique pattern. Each block could vary between 9 and 11 inches wide, and would be 14 inches tall. We chose a loose range of colors for the backgrounds (blue-green), and leaves (green). Since she lives in Seattle, I’d make my blocks, send them to her, and she would put the top together. She then brought the top to me. Because we were doing this long distance, we took photos of our progress to send back and forth…hence I have lots of photos of this project (when I usually am lucky to have one photo of a quilt at all!!). I thought I might finish the quilt before the wedding last August, but it was a bigger and more time consuming project than I had imagined. Since I believe in the karma of hand-quilting, I didn’t want to quilt into the finished piece any days of anguish or frantic work. It had to be quilted in calm, as much as possible. I finished the quilt just before Christmas and the gift was given. (They liked it!) Since I have all these photos I thought it mike make a nice story here. Here are my first few blocks…
and LeeAnn’s…
once we saw each others’ blocks…(her plaid and print backgrounds, my red and orange leaves) we through caution to the winds and just went for it.
Then she took all the blocks and evened the rows with varied widths of orange and red strips…
I put it together…
and then I started quilting…every which way…different colors…little messages…
I even made a quilting proto-type…
They liked it!
On The Way 
Bonnie:Amazing. George
This warmed my heart and brought a tear to my eyes. So happy for all of you.
hi! this is a fantastically lovely and beautiful gift, filled with love…..wonderful work!!! happy wedding & a continued happy life shared in peace and joy, kristine wood [via dave and san, my special friends for many years & inspiration]…my heart is glad!
So glad to see the final version! Lots of love in those stitches!
That’s lovely. The two of you have made something truly beautiful.
Lovely quilt made with love. Bonnie and LeeAnn = a wonderful collaboration
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Fabulous.
Dear Bonnie,
I have always been intrigued by collaborative art – the process and the result. This quilt is beautiful and the collaboration looks effortless in its result in spite of the time and distance involved. I am impressed and motivated to create the opportunity for this kind of collaboration in my creative life. Thank you for sharing.
Of course they would love it. It is so beautiful and full of loving touches. Kudos to you and LeeAnn. Also, Happy New Year to you two creative beings.
Most marvelous! So beautiful! Thank you for stating your philosophy of the karma of quilting. It makes such sense and such beauty and is so ‘Bonnie’. The makers among us would do well to follow.
All of the above, what a wonderful gift to give…..and to receive!
Hi, Bonnie. I just love this quilt. Thanks for the story and the photos. Hope Santa brought you lots of stitching goodies and may the New Year be full of creative adventures!
best, nadia
Pat Miller New email address: solidbrassrichmond@gmail.com Store phone: 815-678-4411
I saw this in progress, but the final product is still astounding! LOVE IT> so pretty.
Gorgeous!
Your quilts are the best.
xo
Beautiful quilt with personalized touches for a beautiful couple! Most outstanding!