Be sure to bring a quilt.
So I have these two friends. And they are good friends. And for the last couple years they’ve been living in Frankfurt, Germany. I missed them. A lot. Last May, I guess it was, we got a call from Frankfurt that they were finally going to get married! Hip, hip hooray!
In September, they returned stateside for a short stint and began planning. May would be the date, California would be the place; in a lavendar field not far from Davis. My husband and I were asked to do a reading:
i carry your heart with me
by e. e. cummingsi carry your heart with me(i carry it inmy heart)i am never without it(anywherei go you go,my dear;and whatever is doneby only me is your doing,my darling)i fearno fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i wantno world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meantand whatever a sun will always sing is youhere is the deepest secret nobody knows(here is the root of the root and the bud of the budand the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which growshigher than soul can hope or mind can hide)and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars aparti carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
Fast forward now to January when the bride requested that I make not one, not two, but THREE quilts for the wedding ceremony. What could I do but oblige? I mean, these are goooooood friends, after all.
We shopped for fabric, designed, cut and sewed together two lovely, traditional (in pattern only) table runners, but the pièce de résistance was left up to me – the altar decoration.
I looked at tons and tons and tons of pictures of California and the rolling hills and lavender fields in California and even in France. I printed out my favorites, cut them apart and pasted them back together again to make what I felt was an interesting, if not quite accurate, representation of the wedding venue. And then I re-made it in fabric. And the whole time I was sewing, I was singing …
“If you’re going to san Francisco/Be sure the wear some flowers in your hair…”
I didn’t, by the way, wear flowers in my hair. Feathers worked better with my dress.
It was a beautiful quilt and a beautiful venue. I’m glad we got to go.
Three wonderful quilts made a wonderful gift. We are so blessed to have you in our lives!
As Caleb would say, “Aw, shucks.”
The quilts were such a wonderful gift for the bride and groom. They were all a truly excellent addition to the festivities. Thank you for sharing your gifts in this way. You are a very talented lady!
Thank you! I’m glad they were appreciated. I was happy to be part of their important day.