After some deliberation, I finally decided what I want to do for Jeanne’s Double Wedding Ring Quilt Along in April. I’m pulling fabric, and as soon as Mom heads out to a baby shower I’m taking over the Go Cutter.
I didn’t want to go too traditional with the fabric and I wanted to work entirely from my stash. I played with brights and a yellow/green solid background, but I would have had to purchase the solid fabric, and a LOT of it. Also, it just didn’t click for me. The only thing about it I really liked was the light green background.
I clicked through Flickr for inspiration and saw a Pickle Dish quilt (a DWR variation) with different pastel prints for the background. That led me to think about using different light greens in the background.
I found I really didn’t like the brights with the variety of greens. I thought about making the arcs out of a single color group instead of a bunch of different colors. When I think green, I automatically go to purple. This is the result:
I really like this, and I almost stopped there. Fortunately (or unfortunately, sometimes!) EQ7 is just too much fun to play in, and I tried another color palette. This time I replaced all of the yellow greens with soft blues ranging from aqua to lilac to grey.
Because I don’t have a lot of darker purples, I thought I might need to change the arcs to incorporate some dark teals and burgundies, but I find I don’t like this quite as much as the softer one.
I love all three quilts, but I’m going with the second to last, softer one for a few reasons. It will go well in my room and I have more of the blue toned fabrics than of the yellow-greens. Also, the softer palette just appeals to me right now. Finally, I need to stop playing and start cutting. I want to get all of my stuff cut as quickly as possible, so when Jeanne’s ready to start using her Go Cutter I can give it back without having to borrow it again.
Piecemeal Quilts 
What fun to play with all the colors!!! I liked the second one best too.
LOL! No worries about the GO! cutter – though I *am* eager to start the DWR Quilt Along.
I did not know about a Double Wedding Ring Quilt-Along. I think your selection of range of color and tone is the one I would have picked (from what you show). I made a DWR quilt years ago that was commissioned. It was purples & greens. Those were the colors in the rings. I think it was a tone-on-tone white or off-white for the background. Turned out quite nice. I also made one for my in-law’s 50th anniversary. More in the pinks & blues. I used family photos for the centers in blue tones. It is a treasured family quilt.
I like the second to last one the best, talk about changing things up, you really went for it
This is the first wedding ring quilt I’ve seen on the Internet since recently returning to quilting. You’ve done a wonderful design job. I quilted years ago, before the rotary cutter and fat quarters, when “frame quilting” meant quilting in a large ( or sometimes small) wooden frame constructed by a loving, skilled husband, grandfather, uncle, etc… One woman from my church had a suspended frame above her dining table! The other ladies thought it was the most wonderful thing. I still remember mom and I making a special trip to her mobile home one Sunday afternoon to see her new quilting frame. I am the last in a long line of wonderful seamstresses to learn quilting. Several family members taught me some of the basics years ago, but life happened and I’m just now able to get back into quilting. I loved it then and love it now. Last Spring, my parent’s home was completely destroyed and I lost all hope of getting any quilts from the maternal side because nobody but my mom wanted them and she hadn’t passed any of them on to me yet! I try not to be bitter, and it did teach me not to hoard stuff, but spread it out….anyway, I am working on several quilts, have completed two, and am making many mistakes while learning and having a great time. I want to join a quilting guild but when I see their quilts, I feel very inadequate. So, I keep trying and learning on my own. (I have taken a few classes and will continue to do so.) Peace Be With You!
Thank you for showing all of the different variations you have! I have such trouble trying to pick colors sometimes but the DWR seems almost impossible for me to choose colors for. There are just too many different things you can do with it. Thanks for posting about the QAL! I’m eagerly watching for it! I love the second from the bottom the most.
Hi, I am new to your blog and followed a link to here. I have enjoyed reading the past posts and really enjoyed this one. Your photos are so good…wish I could get mine to turn out as nice. I will be subscribing to your site and looking forward to future posts.
Hi I found you via Bloom blog about your dumbing down posts – great read by the way!
I have the Marti Michell templates for the Double Wedding Ring quilt, could I use these for the quilt along?
Jessica, Jeanne at Grey Cat Quilts will be hosting the quilt along. I believe she is going to include guidance for people using templates they already have, but watch her blog – she should be starting it soon.