Focus on Design: Double Wedding Ring (long) ?
Q.Focus on Design is an occasional feature I post here ... when the mood strikes! It is an opportunity to talk about quilt top patterns. I choose these randomly, and may even repeat myself since I don't keep a list! Let's talk about our experiences, likes and dislikes. We can talk about favorite pattern sources and color combinations. Let's set aside issues of pre washing, of kids, even of chocolate. Those can be interesting topics, but *this* thread is Focus on Design. So, let's focus on Double Wedding Ring! PAT in VA/USA
A.I have always loved the DWR pattern. I'm hand piecing one now (I think I have about 16 rings done) in 30s repros with Kona's snow-colored solid (I think that's what it is - not a pure white, but not really cream, either) for the centers and melons. Right now it's a take-along project for trips, but I may shift it to a higher priority soon. For me, the DWR is so representative of the roots of quilting. It was a great way to use scraps, but it also provided an showcase for intricate quilting designs. So while it was utilitarian in its utilization of fabric, it also gave our predecessors an opportunity to demonstrate their stitching ability. I admire the innovation and design seen in today's quilts - and I think we're fortunate to have an almost limitless amount of fabric color and designs use in creating them -- but I like the reminder of simpler times that the DWR conveys to me. That being said, when I was selecting fabrics for the solid pieces at the end of each arc, I just couldn't go with the traditional pink and green - mine are purple and yellow! I tackled a queen size double wedding ring very early in my quilting life, nearly 30 years ago. I didn't know anyone who quilted, but I had read books on quilting, including the DWR pattern. I used a cardboard template and my garment sewing remnants to cut out all the pieces. One of the books suggested appliqueing the rings on to the background to avoid the curved seams. It made sense to me. I bought a couple king size poly-cotton sheets -- one for the ring background, one for the quilt backing. I couldn't see cutting up the background fabric into individual squares, because I'd only have to sew them back together again. So I pieced each arc, then sewed them all together! I pinned the whole thing to the background sheet and started appliqueing. I don't remember how long this took me, but it was a long time -- more than one winter, if I remember correctly. I wanted to hand quilt it, but had never heard of using a hoop for such a big quilt, so I designed and built myself a quilting frame that would allow me to roll the quilt up on the bars and have only 18-24" for quilting. I sandwiched the quilt, basted it, and put it in the frame, in the middle of our big dining room. Then I started quilting, using a stab stitch, because I didn't know or understand about the rocking stitch. I was no where near done by the end of that first winter, so I took the legs off my rack and put it away for the summer. I don't remember how many winters it took to get it quilted -- at least two, but it finally got done. We have used it on our bed quite a bit. Some of the pieces are quite faded and some are showing some wear, but all my applique stitches are holding. When the quilting started to come out, I quit using it regularly until I could get that fixed. I tried hand quilting it again; that ended rather quickly when I realized how hard it was to quilt through those two poly-cotton sheets. I finally ended up using the machine to fix up the places where the quilting had come out;I didn't want to use it as it was and risk having the batting get all lumpy, and I didn't want to just leave it in the closet and not use it.
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