my oldest unfinished quilt project

      

Oh boy....
I'm not sure I want to admit this. But this blog is all about getting my quilts to the finished status, so here goes...

Being part of quilting groups is pretty amazing. The encouragement that flows through quilters is never ending. They encourage to start, to continue, to stick with it, to complete that final step, to label, to take a break.... they encourage everything!!
One is a Facebook group called "Celebrate Hand Quilting." The requirement for posting in this group is your project must be at least partly done by hand with needle and thread.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/handquilting/
from this group branched off another little group for quilters that wanted to make a Double Wedding Ring quilt.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1024194140970891 /

(here is a link to a completed Double Wedding Ring quilt for those that are not familiar with the pattern https://www.amishcountrylanes.com/Pages/hs7093.shtml  priced at $1175! I'll have to remember that and show it to my son.)

See this little blue box in the picture above? It says "Payless Shoesource" on the inside band. That was a shoe box that held one of the first pairs of shoes for my son, it still has the size 5 tag attached. LOL he had chubby baby feet, I loved it!... Inside the box I have stored the beginnings of a Double Wedding Ring quilt that I started handpiecing when I was just 3 or 4 months PREGNANT with my him... He is now 20 years old!....  ya, that's how old this project is,,, oh my...

The start up of the facebook DWR group is perfect timing. I hadn't even included this one in my unfinished quilts list (I'm sure it's not the only one that hasn't been included, but we're not gonna get into that right now). What would be more perfect for my goal this year than progressing with my oldest work-in-progress?!!
On top of the fb DWR group, Ms. Jenny from the Starkville Hoopers quilt guild suggested that we start the year with a project that every week we would bring in it's progress for show-n-tell. Perfect to motivate me to work on my 20 year old DWR! Now that makes it a double accountability for me. How wonderful, right? :)


The first hurdle was that I don't have the book on hand to get my pattern pieces out. And every DWR pattern is different because each designer has their own idea about it, making it impossible to find another pattern to match. I have the few plastic templates I used for marking the "rings" that I've already stitched together. I had to re-draft the pattern for the other pieces. The rings don't make a perfect circle, so it's not as simple as drawing a circle and going with that.
After a few failed tries of placing wedges that just weren't matching up correctly, it finally clicked that I need to look at this as a quilt block. A block has 4 corner points! As soon as that clicked for me re-drafting was done in a matter of minutes.

I have decided this is going to be my son's heirloom quilt. Since it was started when I was pregnant with him and he will have his milestone "21st" birthday in December. With that in mind, his favorite colors are purples. I chose a purple and lavender for the joining squares. I also found a deep periwinkle for the background. Even more perfect, I found the needed fabrics from my stash!! 

I've a special idea for the centers to give a bit of a twist on the "Double Wedding Ring" title. Since my son isn't anywhere close to getting married, or even close to thinking about it, this will be a quilt to tie the past with the future and all my hopes for him <3. I'll show you as it progresses, but for now I'll concentrate on wedges :).

Thanks for visiting. Have a great day!