Hooked on Quilting

Wow, sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. Been very busy with my new granddaughter!!! Anyway, I finished the Double Wedding Ring quilt and here it is!!!

I just thought I'd share because it's been so long that I am actually quilting my DWR as I am blogging. I chose a feather motif to fill the white centers and I decided that the arcs were too tiny to do continuous curve so I'm just outlining them. This is the most challenging quilt I have ever entertained doing and I'll probably take a long break before I ever do another one. LOL

Finally, it is a flimsy! All paper piecing paper has been removed. Tomorrow, I will press it and get it ready to quilt. I will have to do an awful lot of checking for strings because the strings will show through the white. I still have to cut the background fabric and piece it. Then I have the binding to cut and piece together and sew it on, but I'm getting so close now. I'm very excited, aren't you glad that you won't have to see any more of these progress pics?

I'm really excited that I'm almost finished this Double Wedding Ring quilt. It was a REAL challenge and one I won't try again for a long while. It was so hard to stay focused on this quilt top because there was so many little pieces and then there was so many big pieces and all curved!!! It would have been so easy to fold this one up and "bin" it!! It's a gift, so I can't.  Now, I have to sew the four patches together and then I'll really have to decide how to quilt it. I just upgraded my HQ16 and it's so fancy now, dare I practice on this quilt top? Maybe I'll practice on muslin first. Any quilting suggestions?  I've been looking at finished DWR quilts so if you see one you love, could you pass the link to me? Might just do feathers if no one comes up with a better idea. <grin>  I'm still ripping out the paper-dread that job. I have to iron it all and clip the threads on the back because they will show through the white ...

Here's a photo of my DWR saga. I have finished pretty much half of the quilt, maybe. Unfortunately, my Oliso iron died on Tuesday. I have replaced it with the newer yellow version. I found a tutorial for the DWR that is amazing. Here's the link to Caroljoy's tutorial .

Did a little more work on the DWR quilt. Check it out to be sure that my four patches are alternating. Not exactly sure how many rows that I'll need to make it a queen sized quilt.

I finally decided on the two colors for the four-patch block that goes in the DWR. I was going to go assorted prints, but decided I needed a little bit of control. Here's a pic, I think I will do the binding in the green.

Here's a bunch more DWR arcs, not trimmed yet!

I’m participating in Friday Night Sew In for the first time. I have a ton of Double Wedding Ring arcs to do and tonight is a great time to finish them. If you want to join in, you can sign up at  Handmade by Heidi . Here's what I have so far and getting a very late start:

I did a couple more arcs last night and I'm hoping that I'll make even headway today. Enjoy.

I finally started on my DWR! I've cut a bunch of fabrics and am randomly adding them. I will stop soon and start sewing the melons to be sure they work!!! I apologize for not posting more, but have not been sewing lately. Too hot in my studio and lots of family visits!!!

I decided to take a practice run at the DWR. I used scraps for the trial run. I cut up the pattern to see if I could use 2" strips and it looks like that should be enough to paper piece it. I just used muslin for the melons, but I think I'll order some white for the real quilt.

My DIL has asked to make her a DWR reproduction quilt. The Accuquilt cutter has dies, but only six segments and the old-time quilts all seemed to have more. In search of a pattern, I discovered I wanted the book, Rings That Bind by Cheryl Phillips. According to the YouTube.com video, I'd need the "stuff" that comes with it! If search of the book, I discover it's out of print and there's none to be had. So, back to my dilemma...what now? Here's some fabrics to start: