Wedding Rings

I love weddings, always have, which is kind of ironic considering I didn't really want to get married for a long time.  But there's something about making heartfelt, passionate, meaningful promises to someone you love, love, love, out loud that just gets me.

I thought once I tied the knot in this FABULOUS DRESS I might lose interest in the NY Times wedding announcements. But Styles is still the first section I turn to every Sunday, skimming the longer entries for stories of how people met - because who cares where the bride's mother works?  I want to read what the pickup line was!

This summer my favorite party by far was thrown by my friends Scott and Danny, in celebration of their wedding after EIGHTEEN years together.  It was held outside at a house where they've vacationed every summer for years. From the party favors of fancy cheese (Danny's a true connoisseur) to the part of their ceremony where guests blessed pieces of sea glass collected by the couple's families in summers past, it was just such a thoughtful and loving night.

So what does a novice quilter do for newlyweds she loves?  Well, not the traditional wedding ring quilt with all of its intricate paper piecing.  And certainly nothing big enough to cover that king size bed! And a minimum amount of quilting the sides together, because I still just suck at that.

I decided to go with a picnic quilt (I'd recently made one for myself) because it's such a nice thing for a "family" to have.  I started with a traditional (and free!) pattern found  here, modifying the edges and turning the paper piecing into solid circles).  I ended up with this:

Oh, I'm sorry, are you having a hard time picturing the picnic they could have?  How's this?

Those are some seriously wavy edges, but the recipients know it was made with mucho cariño.