To Quilt or Not to Quilt

So far my quilt making has more or less been constrained to various odd-sized baby blankets. I've been arguing with myself for months as to whether or not I should take on a larger quilt in celebration of a different milestone.

Why Not Quilt:

• Size - the quilt would be Full size, if not Queen. That alone is intimidating. 
• Cost - I can manage the cost of the materials if I stretch purchases out over a couple months, but I'm worried about the quilting. If I can find a way to do it myself, this becomes a Time issue. If I can't, paying someone else to do the quilting for me puts this project beyond what I can afford. 
• Time - I do have 7-8 months to work, but quilting it myself (whether by hand or machine) would eat up a lot of that time. And it's never certain how many free hours I'll have in a day until after 9 p.m. that day. 

Why To Quilt: 

• I want to. 

There's really one reason why I make any item:

I came across the concept of a Ring Warming Ceremony for the first time during our wedding planning. Basically, the wedding rings are passed through the guests, giving each guest a moment to say a silent prayer/blessing for the marriage before the rings are used in the ceremony. In a way, each hand made item is a bit of a Warming from me to the recipient. Even when I'm rushing to finish, I'm still trying to pour the hopes and dreams I have for the recipient into something tangible. I'm remembering the quilts I had growing up, the costumes and picnics and games they played rolls in, wondering if the one I'm working on will have even a moment of being as important. I wonder if the recipient will ever touch it and know that someone spent hours thinking of them and how special they are. It's my own little Warming Ceremony, even if the recipient is unaware that's what's happened. 

It isn't really a question of to quilt or not to quilt. When I read my own reasoning for why I want to, how can I say no? Even though I'm terrified of the size and scale of the project I'm about to commit to. 

So, the real question is: What pattern do I make this commitment to? 

This is for a wedding and a marriage. It's for artists. Unlike baby quilts where I can use the nursery design, favorite animals, or something in the shower invite for inspiration, here I'm a little less inspired. No, that's not true either. I'm intimidated by two of my three pieces of inspiration. Mario Cart Rainbow Road. Van Gogh's Starry Night. Tie Dye. I'll let you figure out which two of those are more intimidating. 


The color story has been clear since before I admitted to myself that I wanted to do this. Rainbow colors in dark gray/black fields. The good news? That can be applied to a number of patterns. The bad news? That can be applied to a number of patterns.

Here are my favorites so far. (Prepare to be awed by my incredible Paint skills. I know.) 

Inspired by the Moda Bake Shop Avignon Picnic Quilt 

Inspired by Use the Loot: Rainbow Quilt 

Inspired by Blue Elephant Stitches: do.Good Stitches Rainbow

Inspired by Oh, Fransson! Sparkle Punch and  wonky stars 

See what I mean? Lots of options... but none of them feel quite right. Or is that just me? 

In a few minutes, maybe I'll change my mind, but at this moment, I'm torn between either the first one I shared or the last one. I like the stars, but I've never done stars. And I'm not very good at finishing when I've bitten off more than I can handle.