More on assembling the DWR

Last week, I talked about putting the DWR quilt together here and there was interest.  So, I thought why not show the hard part.  Because, honestly, it's not as hard as it looks and I think people should know that.  First, my pattern.  I was going to give you a link but I can't find it now.  It's the Double Wedding Ring Quilt Pattern by Jennifer Paganelli for the Girlfriends Collection.  But, Jennifer's isn't the only version out there.  I have the same pattern in a package from 1987, by Country Quilt Collections.  I picked that up at some show, and the price tag indicates its from Yoder's department store.  Isn't that in Shipshewana?  How'd it get all the way here?

Anyway, both patterns say to paper pieces the arcs and I used my freezer paper method for that and it went fast.  Much faster than the rest of the quilt is going...but that's because there was no pinning involved.  Most of the assembly time after the arcs are made is spent pinning...at least for me it is. 

First, I mark.  This is the background melon shape.  I mark the center, by folding in half and pressing.  Then, I mark the ends.  This is the actual place where the seams would come together.  So, it's a quarter inch in from the edge, measured from both sides.  See how it forms an X?  I'm going to pin through that x. 

Here are my arcs.  There are regular 6 piece arcs and there are arcs with the ends added on.  The pattern instructions explain how to choose colors.  I'm using dark brown and a medium brown instead of just two fabrics as the pattern calls for.  That should give me a more scrappy look. 

Next, mark the seam intersections on the arcs.  Then, I use what I call the "nail and pin" method. 

I drive a pin through the two match points like a nail.  That's the red pin in the picture above.  Then, I bring a pin in from the side and bring it though, right where those two seams should match.  That guarantees that when it goes through the machine, the seam will match the pieces exactly like they should be. 

Repeat with the ends of the arcs.  Here the red pin is the nail and the blue pin holds the seam in an exact match. 

Then, I pin down the rest of the seam lines to the melon shape.  I put the concave (in-y) curve of the arc on top and let if ruffle up as the shorter edge matches up to the convex (out-y) curve on the background melon. 

Sew that seam and press to the background melon. 

Then, I pin the longer arc to the other side of the melon, just like I did the first one, matching all the same points, except you have those two extra squares on the end that overlap the first arc.  Be sure that the seam allowances where the squares were added to the ends of the arc are pressed inward toward the arc and not toward the squares.  This is very important later, when adding the arc to a diamond. 

And, I'll end up with a larger melon.  Yay! 

I'm out of time, but tomorrow, I'll show how to add that melon to a background diamond. 

I stopped following the blog of a male quilter today.  That's always hard to do.  But, honestly, I was not inspired.  In fact, mostly I read his blog and thought "that is one of the ugliest quilts I've ever seen".  I started following him because several of the nationally known quilters talk so well of him.  And, when I got there, I kept finding things we had in common, in addition to the love of quilting.  We should have been great friends.  But, no matter how often I reached out, he never even said hi.  Then he started to take ideas I'd seen somewhere else and present them as his own.  And, he never gave credit.  And, that was just too much for me.  So, I set him free to make all the ugly quilts he wants...without me looking over his shoulder and thinking negative thoughts.  Because I'll look at ugly.  But, not even acknowledging that someone other than you actually thought of the idea you are presenting, even if you can't remember who it is, was more than I was willing to read. 

Sydney is doing great on the job.  She's making a good bit of pay between salary and tips.  It would be perfect for the whole family if she was driving and I wasn't having to go get her in the middle of the night.  But, as me dear old mum used to say, "this too shall pass."  I wonder if she still says that?

I think the last time I heard it, she had a kidney stone. 

Ha!

This too shall pass.

Have a great Thursday! 

Lane