Thinking of Picnics

We have a lot of friends getting married. There are four invitations hanging on our fridge. The last wedding we went to, I made a set of placemats for the couple since we used to go to their place and have the occasional random meal. I enjoyed the project so much that I wanted to make gifts for these weddings as well!

We received many beautiful and thoughtful gifts for our wedding from our family and friends, but one of the more unusual gifts was a set of gift cards and a cute hand drawn map of a particular neighborhood in The City where all of the merchants were (coffee shop, ice cream place, bakery). The intent was to give us a 'date' that would end in a picnic at the park. Very fun! The next two occasions are for couples that are local to the Bay Area, so we think this will be perfect. The crafty addition? A picnic quilt! I'm thinking about 5' x 5' and pretty simple designs that reflect the tastes of the people who will use them.

We hatched this plan while we were away in Portland which was great because it's always fun to bring back a bit of a souvenir from trips. We found a fantastic fabric shop, Cool Cottons, which is basically a quirky craftsman house full of all the fabric I love. I'm sad they don't seem to have an online shop, but I did enjoy an hour or so of ogling fabric and Dave even helped me pick out colors! We found this cute bicycle print and a few fat quarters in the five colors. The bikes are perfect for the recipients, I can't wait to see how it comes together, I've got a few ideas knocking around my head.

Bike It, birch fabrics

For the second quilt, I wanted something more toned down, since we know the groom rather well but not as much his fiance. I recently got an iPad case made with the yellow bird print in the middle, and Dave actually liked it a lot. I took that as a cue that boys can tolerate these colors and this theme, and I figure this is one of the more 'tame' color combinations I like so hopefully she'll like it, too. 

Aviary 2, Joel Dewberry

I am going to make this a simple square patchwork quilt alternating these prints with linen. I received my fabric prints from Hawthorne Threads in the mail Friday (perfect timing since I had also purchased the linen on the way home), and I spent a lovely evening cutting squares. They're all stacked up and ready to sew! This quilt should come together in no time, which is good since this particular wedding is in about a month. 

Artsy lookin' stack o' squares

I'm looking forward to the rest of the weekend!