A Quilt for Canaan + Kelly

I have been a terrible blogger lately, and for that I am very sorry. I recently started back to school, and homework + job + family does not leave me with much free time. Consequently, I've been behind way behind on blog posts. I did, however, want to show you some pics of a recent quilt I made and wedding I attended for a beautiful couple I'm lucky enough to know, Canaan and Kelly.

Photo courtesy of N. Barrett Photography

Canaan and Kelly met almost 10 years ago when Kelly was staying-the-night with my sister, Cayla. Kelly and Cayla were too young to drive, and they were walking around the neighborhood when they passed Canaan's grandma's house. Canaan was just visiting his grandma, and was outside when the two girls walked by. They all started talking, and from what Cayla told me, Kelly thought Canaan was so cute. Kelly and Canaan started dating after that, and now, almost a decade later, they are married.

At the wedding reception my sister Cayla met Canaan's sweet grandma who said, "Oh, you're Cayla! Your brother is Chad, right?" And his grandma went on to say, "Canaan and Chad were such good friends."

Confused, Cayla said "they were?" and was trying to remember if Chad and Canaan had ever even hung out.

"Oh yes! They were." Canaan's grandma replied. "They were always going to the movies together."

At that moment Canaan walked up and Cayla asked him, "were you and Chad friends?"

Canaan said, "Who's Chad?".

And I just have to laugh, because apparently Canaan was telling his grandma all those years ago that he was hanging-out with Chad, but he was really with Kelly. Poor Canaan's grandma! For years she has been thinking that Canaan was my brother's friend, but really he was using my brother as a pawn!

Kelly started off as best friend to my sister, but our family adopted her as "one of us" because we just love her so much, and now each of us claim her as a best friend. If you met her, you would want to be her best friend too:) She's beautiful, smart and genuinely just a really sweet person. Kelly is a Dallas photographer and when I was deployed for a year, she took photos of my son's first haircut, my daughter learning to tie her shoes, and she was there to greet me when I came home. I'll never be able to thank her enough for capturing the moments I missed while away from home.

Photo taken by Kelly Christine

Kelly was selected as D Magazine's "Best Family Photographer" and her work was recently featured in Mollie Makes magazine.  Kelly hinted to me over a year ago that she wanted a quilt, but Kelly is so trendy that I knew that I was going to have to go a little out of my comfort zone and make something a little more modern. Even though Kelly and I are friends I was nervous to make her a quilt. The only way I could see making a quilt for her was I had to imagine a quilt that I might see in one of her photographs.

I chose to make her a triangle pattern, and used colors I knew she was using in her wedding. I quilted it in straight lines, but the quilting was taking me so long, that it was only 75% complete when it was time for the wedding. I felt like a jerk showing up at the wedding with no gift, but I'm almost glad I saw the wedding before I gave her the quilt. I was so nervous she wouldn't like it, but after I saw the ceremony and reception I knew the quilt was going to be okay. After Kelly received the quilt, she assured me that they love it.

Photo taken by Kelly Christine

I wish I could describe to you how beautiful the wedding was, but there really are no words. Everything was perfect. Kelly was the most beautiful bride I had ever seen and tears instantly sprung into my eyes the moment I saw her. But the tears didn't stop with just how stunning she looked--I was an emotional mess the entire night because everything was really gorgeous. The ceremony was small and was located out on her grandparent's land. There was a beautiful lake in background and a log cabin on the grounds. There were sweet little things to see everywhere.

A pretty bike...

Photo courtesy of N. Barrett Photography

A painted chair...

Photo courtesy of N. Barrett Photography

And the cutest little girls that looked like dancing fairies...

Photo courtesy of N. Barrett Photography

After the ceremony, we headed over to the reception, and every detail was so well-thought out and beautiful. The reception took place in an old building turned art gallery, and couldn't have been more perfect. The tables were decorated so beautifully, and the FLOWERS! I really had never seen such beautiful arrangements. I was happy enough just to sit there forever.

Photo courtesy of N. Barrett Photography

Photo courtesy of N. Barrett Photography

Photo courtesy of N. Barrett photography

Photo courtesy of N. Barrett Photography

Photo courtesy of N. Barrett Photography

 Anyway, I just feel so blessed that I have such a wonderful friend, and I know her and Canaan really are going to live happily ever after.

Photo courtesy of N. Barrett Photography

To learn more about Kelly, and to see her work, you can visit her blog, Kelly Christine Photography

Most of the photos in this post were taken by N. Barrett Photography, and to see more of her beautiful work, you can visit her here.

Flowers were designed by Bows and Arrows Flowers

Cake and donuts were made by Cakewalk