Double Wedding Ring Advice Needed

Appliqué might be the easiest solution. As for setting, why not make your piece the central medallion of a square-in-a-square (on point with 4 corner triangles) so you have lots of space for lovely quilting? That would give you a piece about 78-80", so a couple of borders ought to bring it to a good size. Roberta in D

I agree with Roberta on appliquéing the pieces unto fabric. Unless you have the original pattern pieces, I think it would be a lot of work to figure out the right size to cut the football pieces. I also love her suggestion of setting it on point, otherwise 2 good sized borders 7-8" each should bring it up to a nice size of around 80" overall.

Oh, here is an idea...cut 1" bias strips of a complimentary fabric, fold it in half and sew it to your arcs like you would for french binding. They you would have a nice finished edge for appliquéing the arcs.

Cheri On Vancouver Island, Canada

I like Cheri's suggestion about the bias binding on the appliquéd center medallion. If you can find similar fabrics you might also applique something (vine & flowers?) on the outer border to marry the whole thing.

Lynne: If you set on point, it will be about 78" across, wider than a Queen bed of 60" X 80". You can use fewer blocks to contain the old rings on the top of the bed, not hanging off the sides.

If you just use eight rings, you can set them 36" X 72" straight up and down, and then add borders. To use seven blocks: make two sets of four rings and set these diagonally down the length of quilt top with one block 'overlapping' ... so it looks like a figure-8 sorta. This would be about 50" across and about 75" long. Add triangles to fill, then borders. IMO the applique would be good method for the old pieces.

I have book and templates by Betty Boyinck. In one version she shows smaller rings of one color, then a spacer, then a row of larger rings in another color. I am not especially thrilled with the fabric choices in this book, but the layouts are unusual and clever. You could use the same idea, perhaps having a different ground fabric for the outer blocks, whatever size. That would distinguish the old from the new.

Congratulations on the new DIL! Does she quilt? PAT

Lynne >

Lynne- I second (or third) the idea of appliqueing (sp?) down the arcs. Since you are using older fabrics, applique will let another fabric take the stress of use. etc.

Good luck!

Julie Richmond, VA

There were several good ideas here. Thanks so much.

I can't start it for a week or two, due to other commitments to get out of the way, but I am looking forward to working on it. Once I get the design sorted out I can appliqué on the subway and bus...which is really wonderful, especially in the busy time of year. (i.e. September through October.) It's so peaceful to have some hand sewing to do for that hour each way to and from work...especially when the buses are jammed with very loud students.

One more questions. The corner diamonds are all a medium solid mauve, and I am thinking of taking half of them out and replacing them with another solid...what colour would you pick...yellow, green or pink? Something else??(Remember these are 40's fabrics.)

Thanks, all.

Cheers,

Lynne in Toronto

Pat >

I'd use yellow; mauve and yellow are one of the classic color combinations of that era.

lisae

Lynne >

Think carefully here, before taking something like that on the subway and bus to stitch - I tried knitting on the train up to London many years back, and kept getting interrupted by idiots who would ask "what you doing" as if it wasn't plainly obvious, or would be standing strap-hanging in front of me and let their bags smack into my hands/face/knitting/everywhere, and then there was the incident with a cup of coffee that got "dropped" over me...

Audition scrap chunks of each? or use all three!

Suzie B

-- "From the internet connection under the pier" Southend, UK