Seeing double

Double Wedding Ring that is.  I have always admired double wedding ring quilts. 

As a teenager I remember that best friend's mother had a beautiful double wedding ring quilt on her bed.  That was the first time I saw a double wedding ring quilt.  My friend's mother was very talented and she told me she sewed it.  Wow - it looks so intricate.  Back in the late 60s there weren't rotary cutters and acrylic templates like we use today.  She used paper patterns to cut each piece to sew together.  She machine sewed the pieces together, but hand quilted it.  When I told her I loved her quilt she asked me if I like her to make me one.  I was sort of embarrassed and told her she didn't have to do that.  Boy if I could go back in time I would jump at the offer now.  She passed a few years ago, but she'll always be in my memory and her beautiful double wedding ring quilt.

As the years have gone by and I've developed in quilting skills I just had to make my own double wedding ring quilt.  Back some years ago a local quilt shop owner made a wall hanging with just a single double ring.  She made it as a wedding gift and embroidered the names and date of the newly married couple in the middle.  But what hooked me was the fabric she used.  Although she used an orange fabric she also had the same fabric in blues (my colors).  The fabric by Marcus Fabrics called Definitions Strip-it by Faye Burgos came with 2 1/2" wide coordinated strip prints that was sold by the yard.  No trying to figure what fabric to use or how much to buy - it was already coordinated. And I loved the colors.  All I had to do is take my acrylic template and cut the sections for the rings.

Well that was the easy part.  Over the next couple years I worked on this queen size quilt off and on. Once piecing was completed it needed to be quilted.  At that time I didn't own a long arm quilter so it got folded up for me to someday tackle on my regular sewing machine. A few months ago when I was cleaning through my stash I came across this quilt with the backing and cut binding all folded together.  It was one of many UFOs.  I'm delighted to say this UFOs is completed.  

I appreciate the work that goes into making a double wedding ring even more now that I've tackled it.  This quilt has a double meaning for me - my friend's mother and the love of this quilt pattern.

Since I was successful in January completing my UFOs as I challenged myself I treated myself to a massage.  All that sewing and my shoulders were a little stiff.  With my shoulders relaxed and halfway through the month of February I'm still on a roll.  I have a couple more UFO quilts in the works.  Hopefully I'll be posting about them in the next few days before the month is over.