IT BEGINS!!!

Welcome to the Double Wedding Ring Quilt Along!  Are we ready to rumble?  No?

That's okay, so long as you're ready to tackle my favorite classic quilt pattern.  No, I am decidedly not ashamed to admit this.  I made my first DWR completely by hand, piecing and quilting.  I started it just hours before I met the man that I married.  It's his favorite quilt, and he says that he just feels loved when he's wrapped up in it.  Alas, that first DWR is showing its age  (we've been together for going on nine years now), and desperately needs to be retired so that I can continue to look at it and enjoy the memories it calls up.

That's actually what's prompted this particular Quilt Along - I need a new DWR, and I do much better with actually producing something when there's a deadline.  Imagine that!

Just some additional information and disclaimers:


I am going to do my best to make this as painless as possible.  However, this is the first quilt along I've hosted.  


I'm going to assume that all of us doing this DWR Quilt Along are familiar with the necessity for accurate cutting and a consistent 1/4" seam.  All of the products and piecing methods showcased here rely on a 1/4" seam.  

I struggled with the idea of providing yardages versus total number of pieces, or attempting to include both.  Why was this such an issue?  Because, traditionally, a Double Wedding Ring is pieced from scraps, with a single background fabric.  However, many of us are attracted to a more minimalist color scheme.  So, what I'm going to do, is provide a total number of pieces needed, for each shape, and then the overall yardage for that shape.  I leave it to you to decide if you will do a single background color, as well as how many different fabrics you will use in the arcs of the rings.  It should be a simple matter of division, with possibly a little extra yardage thrown in for oopsies, to figure out how much each fabric you select you will need.  


For any assistance, you may contact me via comment or e-mailing me directly (please ensure to put DWR Quilt Along in the subject line), or utilize the Gray Cat Quilts Projects flickr group.  Using the flickr group might mean that someone will have an answer for you before I get to my computer.  


Now, let's move on to the interesting part of things!  The anatomy of a DWR block, so that you all know what I'm referring to in future posts:

Those of you who have an Accuquilt GO!, you've got it easy.  Your supply list is as follows:

Accuquilt GO!
GO! Double Wedding Ring die set (55078)
10" square GO! cutting mat (55111)
sewing machine
scissors or thread snips
thread (use what you're comfortable with, both for piecing and quilting)
sewing machine needles (some for piecing, some for quilting)

Now, I'll be honest - I had a chance to play with my DWR die set yet, so I'm not sure what the finished size of a block is using it.  I guess-timate (so scientific, I know!) a top size of about 62" square, based on knowing that the die set uses the 10" X 10" cutting mat.  However, I did figure out exactly how many pieces would be needed for that size top.  The yardage given includes

If you would like to make a larger (or smaller) version, please refer to the GO! Fabric Reference Chart, available as a PDF download here.

Piece Name     Qty. Needed     Total Yardage
Arc Centers            504                  5 1/8
Arc Ends                336                  3 1/4
Corners                  168                  1 1/2
Melons                    84                   1 3/4
Centers                    36                     3    

For those of you who do not, I am providing EQ7 templates for you to print and use, as well as a supply list for that.  However, I highly recommend obtaining a template set for accuracy's sake, not to mention making this project much less time consuming and irritating.  The voice of experience is talking here - that first DWR?

Yeah, I made that by tracing around all of the templates that I made from heavy weight plastic and then cutting all of the pieces out with scissors.  Definitely not fun.

I digress...

Those of you using pre-made acrylic templates, like Marti Michell or Omnigrid's Double Wedding Templates, your supply list is as follows:

your acrylic templates of choice

sewing machine

scissors or thread snips

thread (use what you're comfortable with, both for piecing and quilting)

sewing machine needles (some for piecing, some for quilting)

rotary cutter (I recommend a smaller one, like 28 mm)

rotary cutting mat

For your yardage, and required number of pieces, I refer you to your instruction booklets.  Both the Marti Michell and Omnigrid booklets list several different sizes and the numbers of pieces and yardage for each size.  

For those of you needing the EQ7 templates, and yardages - I have to apologize at this moment.  I don't have my printer hooked up, and apparently the program requires that to print templates.  Plus, I just realized at this moment that I should have been quite a bit smarter about how I set up a DWR in EQ7 in order to get yardages.  As soon as I can get a fresh look at this in the morning, I will correct this oversight.  Again, my apologies - I didn't forget about you - I got tired and stupid. 

On this note, I'm going to have my very belated dinner, and head to bed.  The blog button for this quilt along can be found in my side bar.  Thank you so much for you patience.  I'm gonna go crash.


Edit 4/3/2011 -

Okay, the supply list for those of you working from the EQ7 templates, which will have to wait until tomorrow.  I have no ink in my printer :P

sewing machine

scissors

thread (use what you're comfortable with, both for piecing and quilting)

sewing machine needles (some for piecing, some for quilting)

template plastic

fabric marker for tracing the shapes out onto fabric (I personally prefer the Sewline Mechanical Pencil)

Yardages for a quilt top finishing at 68" X 68":

Piece Name     Qty. Needed     Total Yardage

Arc Centers           1792                4 1/4

Corners                  448                   5/8

Melons                   224                  2 1/4

Centers                    49                     3   

Now, as you can see from the total number of pieces, there's a reason I highly recommend pre-made acrylic templates.  

As soon as I get a break tomorrow (I'm working open to close, but most of it at the mall), I will take care of getting the templates uploaded and available on this post.