Double Wedding Ring attempt

Hey everyone---back in blog land after a SUPERB Math Convention Wednesday-Thursday! On the trip down, I spent most of it on the phone! Seriously----I don't think I've put that many minutes on my phone in an entire MONTH before; I talked to Julie (running buddy), Jen (sis), Mom, MIL, SIL/BIL. The most exciting conversation was with my MIL, by far! She threw the idea my way of making a quilt for a couple that are friends of the family (my husband's namesake's son---if you can follow that one). Anyway---so for the rest of the trip (there was about half an hour remaining), I started going through popular "wedding" patterns in my mind. I kept coming back to the Double Wedding Ring; at least until I would be able to sit and search the web for some ideas.

Well, on the way back from my convention yesterday, I stopped by this adorable little quilt shop that I uncovered LAST year at the convention. I chit-chatted with the lady for a while, and I brought up the Double Wedding Ring idea. She pulled out a small wall-hanging that she had created, using her own technique which involved appliqueing the "ring" onto the backing. Golly! That seemed much easier than sewing so many curved seams.....so, I purchased a wall-hanging kit in the "earthy" colors that would look great in MY bedroom! I arrived home a bit too late to really get down to my sewing room for a long amount of time, but it was enough to open up the kit, organize pieces, and sew the "rings" together.

Then, this morning, by 7:30, I was back downstairs sewing away. Her method asked for turning under the seams and basting them with a running stitch before appliqueing to the backing fabric. Well----I tried that.....and stopped after about 1/4 of one ring seam. Ummm....NOT having much success with THAT method! So, I scuffled through some of grandma's "goodies" and came across this "Quilter's tape," which is 1/4" wide Heat-n-Bond strips. Cool! I gave it a try. I did up two rings, and wasn't having TOO bad of a time, but still....it was putzy, and the strips weren't fusing the seams under in all spots. :0(
THEN---I eyed my glue stick in the corner of the room (still waiting patiently for me to take up the April BOM roses again...) So, I ran a swipe of glue along one edge and started "gluing" the seam under. WORKED LIKE A CHARM!!! In no time, I was getting the hang of working the seams and glue together, and they were ready for appliqueing.

Then came the "which stitch do I use" debate. I finally decided on a Blind-Hem stitch, set at 1.4 length.
So, after lunch, my day consisted of:

appliqueing all the rings

sewing on the corner triangles (which create the "square" at the end of the rings)

sewing the rows

pin-basting the sandwich

and I even quilted an outline stitch in all of the rings and the "squares."



Here is the current state. I will need to quilt some motif or another tomorrow in the backgrounds, but haven't found exactly what I want yet....
It's not a "true and genuine" Double Wedding Ring, but it still represents the interlocking rings that represent the original historical purpose intended: joining together.

Hmpf....I just took a quick moment to google "history of Double Wedding Ring," and read this....

Originally, the DWR was not only pieced, but the rings were appliqued in place on a background fabric. Many of today's DWR designer use techniques like strip-piecing and paper foundation piecing, as well as see-through templates and fusibles, to minimize the tedium of cutting out all those little wedges.

found here (History of the Double Wedding Ring)

So....*shrug*. I like that many of us just "accept" design variations and are okay with them. I like this method. HOWEVER, I don't know IF this will be the design I make for the wedding quilt, after all. It was fun, and I will love seeing this completed and hanging in our bedroom. (OR, I may even gift it as a wall-hanging to them???). BUT, I didn't need to cut all those pieces; they came precut in the kit! Cutting all those pieces alone would take a month! The wedding is the first weekend in August.

Instead......I want to play around with this quilt idea too....A Lover's Knot quilt. I can see going "scrappy" with lights and greens, and/or lights and browns. They are earth-nature-dwelling individuals, so rich hunter greens and browns would "fit" them. I can't wait to play tomorrow with that idea.....


On a different note, these lovely flannels were hauled out of my hidden stash cabinet two weekends ago, and I started cutting up 4.5" strips, into 4.5" inch blocks, into 3.5" finished rag blocks for some Baby Rag Quilts to be donated to my mother's church. TIP: DON'T CUT BLOCKS THIS SMALL! Just my opinion right now---the quilt seems so stiff because of all the seams. The next one I make, I will cut to 6.5" (5.5" finished). I think that size will make the quilt a bit more flexible.

Okay....off to relax in the tub. A good soak sounds so relaxing right now, doesn't it? Turning the jets on, lay back with the latest book (still reading "Round Robin" by Jennifer Chiaverini). Yeah....that's the ticket!
Happy Saturday