Thanks for the ideas, guys! Yes, I am certainly thinking about this hard - my wife is the one who encouraged me into this hobby, over a year ago, when she got me a Bernina sewing machine for my 50th birthday. She and her two sisters are avid knitters - something I have tried, but not pursued - and handmade items are always appreciated.

Adam

Have you thought about doing a chevron quilt? You could do this in a scrappy and MSQ has a quick and easy pattern for a chevron, check it out on her you tube tutorials. There is also great pattern on Craftsy.com for a beautiful quilt for a wedding or anniversary quilt I've made both of these quilts. Be sure to share your pictures with us.

Good for you, Adam! It's nice to see a guy wanting to make something for his wife with his own two hands! Now, what you haven't told us, is your level of ability or for that matter your personal leanings on this. But since you mentioned that you'd rather go scrappy, I'm thinking you might want to consider log cabin blocks. The reason I say that, is that there are a "kajillion" ways you can set those in a quilt so that you get different looks in the finished product. (Not to mention the difference the choices in fabrics!) Just Google "log cabin quilt" and you'll see what I mean! Good luck, whatever you decide, and SHOW US PHOTOS!! :)

Just over there, mirabelle, posted Sylvia's wedding Sampler, not sure if the BOM is still available???

http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...d-t262650.html

I am thinking since Adam is a newbie quilter (self described) that perhaps a disappearing 9 patch may be something achievable, even if this is just something to get his feet wet and then he could feel more comfortable doing something a little more elaborate for their anniversary? BTW Adam welcome to the board and to the wonderful world of quilting!

Missouri Star Quilt Co has a lot of great videos for quilts that are reasonably fast and easy. You will be happier if you start with something for a beginner. There is a great heart quilt on MSQC and I made one, a piece of cake!. You can use scraps or all reds or pinks and it will be beautiful! There are others as well that would be suitable.

Here on the QB are 2 recent mystery quilts. The Mystery Train ride #8 & 9 are both scrappy. Since they are finished you can see what they will look like finished. Some have made them larger to fit beds, others have made them smaller for wall hangings. They also finished them differently with different sashings and borders. Which anniversary is this? You might want to incorporate that into it somehow. The lone male quilter in our group made his wife a wall hanging for their 5th, I think. He looked online and found that was the year for stone, like 25 is silver. He used the Stonehenge fabrics to make the wall hanging. You might go with a predominant color or something like that. Ours is going to be 35 this year so it would be ruby.

That is so sweet. I have a feeling you can't go wrong here, whatever you pick will probably be loved!

I like the idea of a Bargello - if you use her favorite color and your favorite color that might make for interesting symbolism within the quilt - the two colors fading towards each other to make something beautiful! They look much harder to make than they really are, it's really just a bunch of strip piecing.

And then when you quilt it, you could maybe hide things like hearts or your names or your wedding year in the stitches. Or maybe other symbols and things that have special meaning to the two of you.

Gee, I think *I* am getting ideas! Next year is our 20th....hmmmm...

The first one to pop into my head was double wedding ring. It's not a beginner quilt though. I learned the hard way piecing curves and new quilters don't go together. The quilt I started for my wife is still sitting unfinished in a box. It wasn't even a double wedding ring but it did have curves. The good news is your wife will appreciate anything you make for her.
I tend to go for the older more traditional or vintage patterns. An Irish chain variation always looks good, can be scrappy if you choose and is all straight lines. I would keep the background a solid color but that's me. I can't do scrappy to save my life.
Rodney

I just thought of this. A quick trip to your local library should give you plenty of ideas. I know our library system has a great selection of quilting books.
Rodney