Double Wedding Ring Quilt

Alright, the double wedding ring quilt. I decided I would do this for one of my dearest friends. She was married on July 4, 2007 and it's now April 2008. This project was conceived before she was married but work was extremely slow. I purchased a cutting template for the quilt pieces and I purchased all the fabric the templates said to get. Unlike all my other quilts, I actually got the bright idea to practice cutting and sewing these pieces together.

HOLY COW! Am I glad I tried practicing! I tried every way possible to get the points to match with curved piecing. I do not know if my cutting was off or if my sewing was off but in case it was sewing, I even purchased a presser foot to aid in curved piece sewing. Still, couldn't get it. I pinned and pinned, I tried with either piece on top, I sewed a couple bites then stopped and repositioned, nothing worked.

Finally, I enlisted the aid of other quilters from one of my Yahoo groups and someone mentioned the Quilt Smart method. This is a brand name product which is fusible interfacing. No curved piece stitching, just iron the pieces onto the block with the interfacing and applique in place. Aside from the extra steps of sewing the intefacing to the curved arcs and then turning it inside out and ironing it on, there's really no extra work! -wink-

On a serious note, while this is working out beautifully for me so far in this quilt, I cannot help but feel I'm "cheating" and it's not really a true Double Wedding Ring quilt but hey, I guess the fact is, I'm still sewing it and quilting it so it counts, right? I chose 30's prints and the 20/230s pattern since they have been living in a 30s home and have been painting and taking care to show off the period architecture.

My practicing took place before the wedding. My actual work cutting and sewing the fabrics started after the wedding. I will probably finish this just in time for their 1 year anniversary at the rate I'm going.

Oh, don't let me forget to mention, so many little things have gone wrong with this from the practice piecing debacle to actually having it all set to go and realizing I have no fabric chosen for the corner 'diamonds' in the quilt. I've been to quilt shops near here but nothing is sold any longer and I didn't want to purchase a color online only to have it not match to what I was looking for. I searched for weeks for a suitable fabric but finally, turned to my stash and found a solid and very light print which work. I'm a bit bummed about stepping away from 30s repro prints but you do what you have to.

Other happenings? I've spilled coffee on the blocks, I've had issues with the applique with invisible thread, I had to reset a few blocks because I've somehow messed up the original placement. The only reason I haven't yet been discouraged is because I know, no matter what, she will appreciate each and every stitch.

I am currently building my rows. I hope to finish the top this week. Keep your fingers crossed.