Template For Fast Wedding Ring Quilt... ?

Q: About three weeks ago, I was up at the crack of dawn finishing up some floral arrangements that needed to be out the door by 9:30. I had the local PBS channel on in the background. One of the quilt shows had a woman demonstrating this nifty plastic template for a quilt-as-you-go wedding ring quilt. (Why are all the quilty/sewing shows on at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday??????) The template was a plastic arc. You used it on a piece of fabric folded in quarters to cut out a full circle of "background" fabric - it became the back of the quilt. You then used it again to cut the arcs - she used a striped fabric to get the look of a pieced arc. Then used it again to cut a wedge/football shaped piece. Does anyone know who makes this template? The whole process has been churning in my head since I saw it done. And I don't think I could tell you which show it was on. Fons and Porter was one that played, Nancy was on doing quilted jackets, and there was one other show that aired that a.m. I'm picturing a jolly woman w/ white hair... ???? Maybe that's the show it was demo'd on... I just remember being amazed at the lovely manicures that they all had.... grin

A:I believe you are talking about the template that comes with the book Rings that Bind. I found them at this website sold without the book: http://softexpressions.com/software/books/RingBind.php (I only found it by doing a search, I have not bought from them) I have the book & the template, yet have not used it yet. That looks like the template... In the book, do they do the quilt as a quilt-as-you-go process? Here's what I remember: They laid the template down on a piece of fabric that was folded in quarters and cut a full circle out of it. They then laid the template on four layers of striped fabric, stacked so all of the motifs/stripes were lined up like Stack and Whack, and cut four quarter circle arcs. Sewed these arcs in to a circle. Pressed. Folded the inside raw edge of the circle under 1/4" inch and sewed it down. Pressed. Laid the circle on to the background fabric, right sides together, and sewed all the way around the outside edge. Turned the pieces so right sides were out, pressed. Cut a square of batting and a square of the fabric that becomes the "center" of the block (what is usually muslin or white in a traditional DWR). The squares went right up to the edge of the circle. Laid them on the wrong side of this circle/ring piece. The quilting was done at this point. Folded the circle/ring piece to the front, over the "center" fabric, to create a "block." If you were joining blocks together, the circles/rings would be sewn together along the edge of the square, then the circle/ring folded all the way flat and sewed down w/ a decorative stitch. They also added embellishment at this point. The process was fascinating. I love DWR quilts and figured this is the way I would actually get one done!

Discuss It!

Most Popular Articles

More