Smalls

Back in April, my in-laws came down to Charlotte for a visit.  One of the items they brought down as this beautiful old Singer sewing machine!  This machine belonged to Eric’s grandma who then passed it down to Eric’s mom who has now given it to me!  Before they brought it down they had the machine pretty much refurbished and it works wonderfully!  It’s built in to a nice wooden cabinet and fit perfectly in our office.  I took some sewing classes in middle school and high school and I have always had a desire to make a quilt one day.  My mother-in-law has been making quilts for years and has been a great inspiration to me.  Well, since I now had a sewing machine in my house I figured, why not make a quilt?  I had been trying to think of something that I could get my sister Katie for her wedding that would be something special that she could keep forever.  A quilt would be perfect!  So I embarked on my first quilting adventure.

The first step in the process for me was deciding on a pattern for the quilt.  Obviously I needed something easy since I had never done this before.  But I also wanted something that was meaningful.  My mother-in-law made me a quilt for my 23rd birthday and the two blocks in the quilt were “Irish Eyes” and “Bells of St. Mary’s.”  I’m Irish and I went to Saint Mary’s College, so the fact that she used those blocks makes the quilt even more special!  I saw some pictures of Irish Chain quilts online and I fell in love with the pattern.  I found a great tutorial online and it looked like a great pattern for a beginner and, since we’re Irish, I thought it would be perfect for Katie.

The next step was choosing the fabric.  I needed two fabrics, one light and one dark.  I had originally thought of getting something green for the dark fabric, but when I went to the store I could not find anything!  I never imagined that picking out fabric would be so overwhelming!  I got pretty discouraged after the first store I went to, but had better luck at my next stop.  I finally decided on a blue and red floral for the dark fabric and a cream damask for the light fabric.  Not what I had originally thought of getting, but both fabrics screamed “Katie” to me and I loved the combination!

I pre-washed the fabrics, pressed, cut and pieced it all together.  I learned a lot throughout the process and my mother-in-law was a HUGE help along the way.  I think every Saturday (my sewing day) she received about 20 calls from me asking questions or just seeking encouragement.  She has so much knowledge of quilting and it was such a blessing to have that knowledge just a phone call away!  Fast forward about 4 months…

The picture above is my quilt sandwich.  There are about 400 pins in that quilt and it took about 2 hours to do!  I’ve decided that basting is not my favorite part of the process.  Doesn’t it look pretty though?  Here is my binding all pieced, pressed and ready to go!

And here is the finished product!  I had quite the time quilting this thing.  The first try I had not basted it well enough and had to take out the 50 or so pins I had in place, re-press and then re-baste.  The second try my walking foot was not cooperating and it just looked terrible.  So I had to rip out the two lines that I had sewn, take out the 150 or so pins I had in place, re-press both quilt top and backing, re-baste with my new supply of about 400 pins and then try again.  Finally I was able to get some good results!

I think my favorite part of the quilt is the binding.  This was the easiest part for me to do!  Along the way I had made some practice squares and I bound each one so I could practice the binding – I wanted it to be really nice on Katie’s quilt.  I learned how to miter the corners and I think they turned out fantastic!  AND, with the help of my MIL I finally figured out how to make a nice stitch that is nearly invisible on the back!  I was SO excited about that!  For the quilting, I followed the lines of the nine-patch blocks and quilted a grid for most of the quilt (on the borders I stitched in the ditch).

And here I am with Katie and Dan the day after their wedding presenting them with their quilt.  I did label the quilt but unfortunately did not get a picture of it.  I named this quilt “The First” for two reasons: 1) it was going to Katie and Dan who were married on the first of August and 2) it was my first quilt.  I worked on it from April-July 2009 and finished it just in time for the wedding!

The morning of the wedding we had eight of the bridesmaids plus my mom get their hair done at our house.  We had the bride, eight bridesmaids, a flower girl & her grandma, mother of the bride, father of the bride, brother in law & a soon to be brother in law, aunt and uncle, three hair stylists, makeup artist and some other visitors throughout the morning.  Quite the house full!  I offered to make breakfast for everyone.  I made some pumpkin bread, banana bread, Black Rock Oatmeal Bake, ham & cheddar quiche, sausage & mozzarella quiche and a bowl of fruit.  Everything turned out great (thankfully!).

We had two hair stylists set up in the living room working on the bridesmaids and one set up in the kitchen.  Hairspray was everywhere!

The bride getting her curls and a kiss from mummy.

My dad, Eric and Josh took a break from being around all the girlie stuff and headed over to the Shores Inn for the guy’s lunch with Dan and his groomsmen.

Katie looked like an Irish princess.  She was absolutely gorgeous!  When I got married (actually about a year before Eric even proposed), I saw a Celtic tiara and fell in love with it.  My mom ordered it so I could wear it when I got married and then kept it so my sisters could wear it if they wanted to as well.  Katie wore it beautifully!

When my grandma Scallen married my grandpa, she wore a heart shaped locket adorned with little pearls on her wedding day.  She passed the necklace down to my aunt, her only daughter, who also wore the necklace on her wedding day.  My mom wore the necklace, I wore the necklace and Katie wore it on her wedding day as well.  This is such a special tradition for us and it’s a way to keep grandma Scallen in our thoughts on our special day.

Mr. Z was the photographer that day.  He does a fantastic job capturing the day in photos and video.  He then provides you with all of the pictures he took, video of the ceremony and reception, as well as a special wedding video of the whole day.  Mr. Z was my high school cross country and track coach and my wedding photographer as well!

Surprisingly we arrived at the church over an hour early! Mary and I found ways to keep ourselves occupied though…

Katie awaiting the ceremony with her bridesmaids and flower girl.

On to the reception.  Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Pontone!

My dad giving his toast to Katie and Dan followed by the father/bride dance.

Katie and Dan’s first dance.

Gettin’ down with my parents and my uncle Pete.  I love the look on my uncle’s face!

My grandpa and grandma Booth.  They are so cute!

A self portrait, dancing with my gorgeous husband!

On Thursday of wedding week, Eric drove down to Toledo, OH to visit his friend from college, Robert.  I spent the morning grocery shopping and running errands for my mom.  That evening, we had the Orzechowski sisters, Danielle and Judy over for a night of We Are The World and Newsies.  My mom, aunt Alecia and uncle Ron joined in on We Are The World.  I think we ended up doing 6 or 7 rounds – it was awesome!

The house was pretty crowded with Mary and Josh, Eric and I, my aunt Alecia and uncle Ron and of course my parents.  Eric and I decided to let everyone else have the beds and we camped out in the backyard.  The weather was perfece all week and it was really fun to sleep out there!

My dad had spent the previous 4 weeks in Falls Church, VA for his judge training.  He arrived home around 5:15 PM Friday evening, just in time to change and leave for the rehearsal at 5:30 PM!  Here he is arriving home to be greeted by his sister, Alecia.

The rehearsal went very well.  There were 18 bridesmaids/groomsmen plus a flower girl and, of course, Dan and Katie in the wedding party.  We went through the ceremony twice and then we were good to go!

My new brother-in-law striking a pose!

Dad and Katie.

The rehearsal dinner was at Jack’s.  We had a very nice dinner in their newly renovated party room.  Katie gave a gift to each bridesmaid that night too!  We received a beautiful green and brown necklace that we wore on the wedding day as well as a fabulous Land’s End tote bag with our names embroidered on them.  The straps on the tote bags are green to go along with our dress colors and all of the bridesmaids used them the next day as well!  Here is a pic of Eric and I.  My husband is so gorgeous and looked fabulous in that vest!  I’m such a lucky girl!

Here is a pic of Katie and Dan opening the gifts from the bridesmaids.  We all chipped in on a shower/wedding gift for them and, since there wasn’t a shower where we could all be in attendance, we gave them the gift at the rehearsal dinner.

Next up, wedding day!

After dropping off the girls at the airport, Eric and I began our trek up north.  Sunday evening we arrived in Canfield to spend a few days with mom and dad Welch.  We arrived around 10:30 PM and after saying hi and chatting for a little bit we were off to bed!

On Monday, Eric and I picked up our friend Jeremy and we headed to Jib Jab for lunch.  They have the best hot dogs ever!  I love this place!

That afternoon, Eric and I did a bit of yard work.  Mom and dad Welch are installing some fencing and a patch of weeds needed to be cut down.  Here we are getting the tractor hooked up.

Here is Eric cutting down the weeds.  It was my job to pick it all up and put it in the cart and drive it to the woods in the back of the yard.

Here we are watching a movie with Maggie, their Great Dane.

Magster likes to lay with me on the couch.  Well, she likes to lay with anyone on the couch.  Sometimes she thinks she is a lap dog and will try to get as close to sitting on your lap as possible.  Here she is snuggling up while I read some quilting magazines.  Monday evening we ordered in some pizza and watched the first Transformers movie.

Tuesday morning Eric and I picked up some coffee and donuts and went over to visit Grandpa Welch.

Yummo!

On Tuesday we went to an early showing of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.  This was the second time Eric and I have seen the movie and I thoroughly enjoyed it the second time around!  This one was much funnier than the first and was non-stop action throughout the whole movie!  Afterwards, we went to a nice dinner at a local Italian restaurant followed by some frozen custard.

Wednesday morning we got up early and went out for a nice breakfast.  When we got home, Eric and I packed up and headed to Grosse Pointe.  We had a great visit with mom and dad Welch in Canfield, but the visits always seem to go by so fast!