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. ;) I did make a small wall hanging for my in-laws' 50th wedding anniversary about sixteen years ago, not long after I started quilting. I used a pattern I found in one of Georgia Bonesteel's lap quilting books. I do love to see DWR quilts (that yellow one Taria shared with us is gorgeous!), and someday I hope to make another one. BTW, yesterday at the quilt show I saw one done in tans and browns on a cream background. It was amazing! But it was a variation I'd never seen before, with (I think) only about five pieces in each arc. And the arcs weren't smoothly curved at all; they were jagged -- a very interesting and eye-catching version. I really liked it. :)

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