Needs some ideas for a signature wedding quilt please
 

My Nephew Ryan is home from his second tour in Iraq. He went on a cruise with his girlfriend and came home enaged !!!! Sept wedding is being planned.
I would love to some how make a quilt blocks or evcen a quilt top the guests can sign at the receptions. and Ideas would be greatly appreciated.
he's so special to us like a 3rd son and want to make him and Jennifer something special.

Well, a double wedding ring quilt and people signing the centers is what comes to my mind right off the bat. You might ask the future bride what colors she prefers or plans on using for decorating. I made the mistake of discussing plans for a quilt my son had always admired with the future bride and she refused to put it out for display because she disliked the color choices, which he had chosen. I never made it, but now that they are divorced I am working on it again. Ann in TN

I think your idea is a great one. We did something similar for my daughter's wedding last summer. She chose to use the wedding colors in the quilt. Together we made 9 patch-blocks. Those are set with plain blocks in pale version of the colors. On the plain blocks we have, since the wedding, appliqued photos from the wedding. Guests signed the white squares in the 9-patch blocks. The couple enjoy looking at the quilt and remembering the fun they had at the wedding and all who were there. (We chose a 9-patch because my daughter was also doing the sewing, and is not as experienced a quilter. It was a fun memory-building time.)

If you want to use a more complicated pattern, why not choose a signature block of some kind?

Do you have a chance to talk with the bride-to-be as to colors? If you are close, perhaps you could offer her the choice of patterns, as well.

They look like a very happy couple. Congratulations!

An 8-point star quilt would work, also...make the centers light, so you can read the signatures and go for it!

How about a Friendship star with guests signing center plain block.

Our son is getting married in May, and future daughter-in-law asked for a quilt ( which I had already told her I was going to make for them) to be signed at the wedding. We discussed signing the front, or the back, and which way she would be happier with. She chose to have the signatures on the backing. We found a batik with dark and light blacks and grey, with room in lighter spaces for the signatures. We then shopped stash of batiks and she chose her colors and pattern. Of course I only showed her patterns I thought I was capable of making. I haven't tried set in seams. paper piecing a larger quilt, or using many many pieces like some of the gorgeous quilts many of you show on here.
She was happy and so was I. Nearly finished it, just working on some daisies we decided it needed appliqued as she loves them, and they will be her flowers.

Thanks
 

so many great ideas THANKS so much now off to check all the blocks suggested

LOve the site never been there before THANKS SO MUCH

Congrats on your nephew! I got married over the summer and compiled some of my thoughts on wedding signature quilts on my blog - maybe it will be a little helpful. My one big take away is to recommend having people sign blocks that are trimmed with masking tape/artists tape and backed in freezer paper vs. having them sign a finished quilt. I was able to square up the blocks and make them look a lot neater I think especially since some of the signatures were a bit party-influenced.... ;)

Another thing is I thought I would need a block for every guest, but I really only needed a block for every family, since most people signed in groups - so I had extra blocks.
http://waterpenny.net/how-to-make-a-...gnature-quilt/

One thing to consider - try to make sure all sizing and starch is out of the fabric for the block that will be signed. I completed a signature quilt last summer, and many of the signatures faded, some badly, after the first wash - which thankfully I did so that the recipient wasn't horrified the first time the quilt was washed. I had heat set every signature before washing, and used the appropriate pens, but I think it was the sizing and starch that did me in.

Ironing freezer paper onto the back of the blocks definitely made it easier for people to sign the blocks.

Cheers, K

If you are going to make blocks to be signed, then you definitely want to back them with freezer paper. You also want to put 1/4 tape on the front around the edges so that signatures do not get written in the seam allowances. Obviously this means that the quilt will not be completed at the wedding.

I did a signature/photo quilt for my parents 50th wedding anniversary as a surprise. I started about 2 years before the anniversary. I picked a pattern and cut the light squares. Backed each one with freezer paper and taped the edges. I then shipped a bunch of them to family/friends out of state with the Pigma permanent fabric pens and instructions to use those pens only. I also gave a bunch to a friend at their church and asked them to be signed. I caught some people at my dad's 70th birthday party.

In the meantime, I gathered photos from their lives and printed them on fabric. When I got the signature squares back I constructed the quilt top and quilted it. I did discover that at least one person did not use the pens I provided. I discovered this when I sprayed the square with starch and the ink ran - ouch! Luckily I was able to fix the problem. The quilt ended up as a queen size quilt.

I did a presentation of the quilt at the anniversary party.

i would select a light color for the backing and have guests write on it. Plenty of space and leave the front without the writing. I believe the quilt is more useful and attractive this way.

Remember that starch and sizing will wash out of the quilt and therefore any pigments from pens, markers, or adhesives will wash away where they adhered to the sizing/starches. Same thing with any photo printing.

I am in the planning stage for a quilt for my daughter, as she is planning a wedding next summer. I think instead of a real difficult pattern, I am going to use the scraps I inherited from my mom and work in scraps from my wedding dress that my mom made for me and kept all of these years. This waythe content of the quilt has more than the block pattern. Just an idea.

What wonderful helpful idea's I appreciate them all. I did plan to have the top done. They were going to put it on a table for people to sign. I was than going to be taking it home to add the batting, backing and do the quilting. Now thinking twice of that. I will at least add the freezer paper and be sure to wash and iron the fabric before I make the squares. wish I could mail the blocks to people with the pens but to be honest I'm not finically able to do that.
Just love all the ideas keep them coming LOL!!! this is the first time I have ever done anything like this. I so want it to be special. With all the deployments he's had and Jennifer too I just want them to feel all the love around them

Colors and Yellow and lt gray. weid huh LOL!!! found the perfect yellows but not the gray. also birds. waiting for the invite to see for sure what Jennifer means. rough doing this so far away.

sure would love to see pictures of some of the quilts made as signature quilts HINT HINT

Considering a pinwhel quilt. each block trimed with a thin gray stashing. Than on the outside borders appilque branches with birds and flowers. yep still palnning.

Ok I need some help. I too am doing a signature quilt for my wedding. I have purchased pre-cut squares but I can not get the to stick to wax paper or freezer paper.. Any suggestions??

if you do it so the guest can sign then dont put the quilt together just lay the blocks out have them sign then put the quilt together. that way if the guest mess up then just throw that block away. good luck

You did a lot of work for your parents. I bet they really appreciated it and love the quilt. It can now be passed down in the family. What a great idea!