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50 Wedding Anniversary quilt

15 years ago

When I got married, I thought I wouldn't live long enough to make my 50th wedding anniversary. I mean, you would be awfully old. Now it is only 9 years away.

My parents were fortunate enough to make their 50th, so I decided to make a wall hanging to honor their lives and love. Because my mother was a master flower arrangement judge and loved Japanese style arranging, I went with a Japanese scene. The woman and man in the picture represented my Mom and Dad. I got a friend to write out the characters (Chinese was the best I could do) that should say : To celebrate 50 years of happy marriage.

I didn't give myself enough time to do the scene in applique, so I drew it with a sharpie and quilted over the lines. I found an oriental print to use in the border. Unfortunately, you can't see the quilting in the picture, but in person you can tell that it is quilted.

To go with their decor, I selected beige for the background fabric and blue for the lines and quilting as the colors.

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Comments (12)

wanda_va
15 years ago
That is so amazing!!! Truly a work of art, to be displayed for generations to come. What a remarkable tribute to their love and union. Thanks for sharing.
toolgranny
15 years ago
That really is a work of love. Thanks for showing it to us.
Linda
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gerizone5
15 years ago
That's super!!
solstice98
15 years ago
It brought tears to my eyes. It's stunning. What a tremendous gift.
bopeep
15 years ago
WOW !!!!
BEAUTIFUL !!!!!
bopeep
mayme
15 years ago
That is just beautiful. You
did a super job.
Mayme
biwako_of_abi
15 years ago
Absolutely beautiful! And so unusual and appropriate.

You do have some Japanese in there, Carole. The last two "letters" in the right-most line are "na" and "ru," which turn the previous two kanji characters (which mean happiness) into an adjective to modify the characters for marriage in the next line over. Japanese and Chinese share a lot of characters, but the "na" and "ru" are definitely only Japanese. In fact, the only part of the writing that might not be taken for Japanese is the first character in the right line, which, as you probably already know, means "celebrate." It would normally come in a different place and have one or two Japanese letters, such as a verb ending, with it. Still, it is perfectly understandable to a Japanese.

What a wonderful gift you made!
nanajayne
15 years ago
A lovely quilt with a beautiful sentiment. I am sure it was a great hit. I like the Japanese theme as I am sure your parents do. It is beautiful.
50 years isn't as long as it might seem. We are going on 58 this year and it seems like only yeaterday that we eloped and said our vows in the file room of the courthouse in Pittsboro. NC.! Who said it wouldn"t last? Jayne
carolek
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks everyone for your kind words. I'm so glad that I didn't do something else because of the short timeframe. The latter actually pushed me into doing something new and stretching creatively.Â

Â My mother felt that her talent in flower arranging was a gift, so she never repeated the same arrangement in competitions or for commissions. That wasn't honoring your gift, she said. I can't say I live up to her high standard, I think that is why I do a lot of experimenting.Â

What I am most happy with is that I did the quilt to express how I appreciated her life and marriage.Â It was my last chance as she died unexpectedly later that year.

Jan: I got the characters from a fellow quilter whose husband was Chinese. I presumed they were Chinese. I'm glad to know they are not too off base.Â
User
15 years ago
That is really beautiful. :-) Thank you for sharing.

Best to you and yours,
Quiltingfox
fran1523
15 years ago
That is stunning and a lovely tribute to your mom and dad. Beautiful work.
day2day
15 years ago
It's gorgeous. You do such wonderful,creative work.TFS.
~Geraldine

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