Rings

From Day One of considering Improv Double Wedding Rings as my Bee Sewcial prompt this year, I really liked the idea and now, with a finished quilt in my hands, I'm more than pleased with my choice as well as my bee-mates' execution of it. My own inspiration block is in the upper-right corner. The black-and-white and "sky blue" mix is more striking than I expected, and I like it ALOT.

The blocks sat on my design wall for a while, as I considered options for bringing them all together. In my gut, I really felt they should stay snug together vs. spreading them out, just like they would be in a traditional double wedding ring quilt. It seemed that would better reflect the traditional pattern I was recreating in a more modern way. 

I'm not sure where the improvisational framing idea came from, but I decided to try a few sections, and I immediately saw the possibilities. Adding pieced stripes into the mix took it up a notch. I can't imagine being any happier with it. Then, once the top was done, a pieced quilt-back was in order.

For quilting, I used Aurifil 50wt #2715 [Robin's Egg] and started by following the curve of Felicity's block, echoing in 1/2" intervals with my walking foot. 

Though I had begun with a different plan, once I'd finished that large segment, I decided to continue echoing the other three blocks in that quadrant, this time in 1" intervals. There was some overlap between quadrants, which led to some interesting sections of grid.

That left the center "background" of the quadrant, which I echo-stitched in 1/4" intervals. It felt like the differing widths added some interest. The quilt was bound in Kona Pacific and measures 60" square. 

At the beginning of this project, I was slightly concerned my prompt would be too simple and not improv-y enough, but I think between the creativity of my bee-mates in making their blocks, the somewhat limited palette, and the finishing 'frame,' it became something very recognizable yet very unique. My thanks goes out to Karen/capitolaquilter, M-R/quiltmatters, Leanne/shecanquilt, Stephanie/spontaneousthreads, Ken/thekinglacker, Felicity/felicityquilts, and Marci/marci_girl for their contribution to this quilt. Their blocks definitely let me create the kind of quilt I had hoped for.