Vintage Wedding Ring Set?
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've always loved this design, and considered making it for my son and
daughter-in-law's wedding quilt. BUT, when I saw the holes the dog chewed in
my daughter-in-law's lap quilt, I decided that I'd wait for a more careful
recipient [like myself, maybe?] I adore my daughter-in-law, but some folks
are "pretty but easy" quilt folks and some are "heirloom" quilt folks. She's
the former [at least during this stage of their lives.]
I think I saw one of these done all in florals...watercolour style? Has
anyone attempted this? The idea intrigues me, and is definitely on my
"someday" list.
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.
Not much.