Saving Another Double Wedding Ring Quilt, Part 3

Have you read the previous 2 posts about the “saving” process going on with this vintage well used and well loved Double Wedding Ring quilt? In this post I am going to take you through the steps of applying the false back at the top and bottom edges as well as making repairs to fabrics that have become ragged, torn, frayed or simply are missing.

Let’s start with the false back. If you remember, both the front and back of the quilt top and bottom were in very bad shape. With the front edges repaired, I needed to address the back.

Just to the right of the green line above you can see a seam line? For this edge of the quilt I was fortunate enough to have a length of muslin that very closely resembles the original quilt backing. I folded over a quarter inch, pressed it in place, carefully placed the length of muslin across the entire quilt top edge and pinned it into place.

I needed to secure the strip of muslin to the quilt so I carefully stitched it down by hand at the folded edge. How did I handle the scalloped edge? I carefully pinned the outside quilt edges to the new false back muslin piece and then machine zig-zagged the outer scalloped edge. Once I had this machine stitching completed I carefully trimmed away the excess muslin.

Can you see how I tried to mimic the hand quilting lines with my sewing machine?

This is the other end of the quilt, I used an ivory muslin as the false back.

Now that both the top and bottom quilt edges have been addressed it was time to work on the front again. Below I am showing you how I used trims, laces, etc. etc. to either cover up or disguise the damaged areas of the quilt.

I welcomed the opportunity to experiment with the built in decorative stitches of my sewing machine. This quilt project was perfect for “decorative stitches reinforcement”. Let me give you a heads up: if you plan to stitch on a vintage quilt such as I did, it is imperative to clean out the area underneath your needle/throat plate and around your bobbin OFTEN! It is amazing the amount of lint that the needle and thread carry through two your bobbin area of your sewing machine.

I consistently used both blue and yellow threads for my horizontal decorative stitching and both pink and green for the vertical. I chose a different star shaped decorative stitch to outline all of the 4 Patches.

At this point I had some ideas about how to tackle the larger centers of the double wedding ring blocks. I jumped right into working and forgot to take very many pictures of my progress. ☹️

A year or so ago, using my Accuquilt tools, I cut out 30-40 melon shapes from reproduction fabrics. Pulling these shapes out of storage I began to lay them out on the quilt top surface and decided on this placement. Of course my Elmer’s Washable School Glue came in handy!

Ignore the things indicated by the blue arrows. The pictured Accuquilt Die cut the smaller melon shapes on the left and the yellow fabric circles just didn’t work for me, they were too small.

This is raw edge machine applique and I’m using a Wonderfil Specialty Threads product: white Deco Bob. I love this versatile thread!
I took this picture to show you the machine settings for my applique stitch.

This is what the quilt looked like before I began to glue and stitch down the melon shapes:

Once all the melons were stitched I knew I needed something in the center were the four points meet. Vintage yellow yo-yo’s to the rescue!

The yo-yo’s were sewn on by hand…so much easier than sewing tight circles of applique with my sewing machine.

I’ve got a bit of work left to do in the body of the quilt, some on the front and a little on the back and of course then there’s the binding to replace.

Never underestimate your ability to save an old quilt! It’s a wonderful feeling! Blessings to everyone and of course, Happy Quilting!

Rhonda

Published by Rhonda Dort

A creative person living in Houston, TX

25 thoughts on “Saving Another Double Wedding Ring Quilt, Part 3”

  2. It is amazing how you have repaired and transformed this quiit. From rags to riches, from Cinderella by the fireplace to Cinderella at the ball. You are the fairy Godmother of the vintage quiltworld!

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  3. Loved this series on mending and saving the double wedding ring quilt. Wondering what you did about binding? Did you replace it with an orange color similar to the original?
    Thank you so much for sharing your journey. Absolutely inspiring! Makes me, too, want to find a quilt to save.

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    1. The binding…it will have to wait until I’m completely finished with the little repairs/fixes. That gives me time to think about what color the binding should be…I don’t know if I can do the Cheddar Orange or not…might have to experiment with a few colors to find the one I like best. ❤️

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  6. I am really enjoying following your posts regarding this quilt! Were you able to do all those decorative stitches with a walking foot so the quilt fed evenly through the machine? My machine says to not use the walking foot for decorative stitches that go forward and backward; only use those that go side to side — which is pretty much limited to zig zag as not many decorative stitches only go side to side.

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  7. So I’m wondering was the quilt in such bad shape that it needed all the melon shapes to help repair and support the quilt? Or did you just want to add them for looks? I like it! Scrappy is my favorite anyway. And I love all the little trims added to help in the repairs too. This makes me hope to find a damaged quilt now that needs some loving that I might have just left because I thought it was too bad off to be saved. Thanks for all the information. —Charma

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    1. The addition of the melon shapes served 2 functions, they both added interest as well as provided needed support to the quilt. Hope you can find just the perfect damaged quilt to save! ❤️🙂

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  8. I am custodian of damaged family quilts, rescued quilts, rings and melons for at least 2 Double Wedding Ring quilts all feedsack, boxes of feedsack pieces, 7 tubs of linens, baskets of crocheted and knitted doilies, just need to get started! Everything you do helps me see what I can do with my treasures. Since I am 77, I hope I can at least get some finished! Thank you for showing me directions I can go.

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  9. That is “some” intuitive restoration you have very patiently done. I love the entire process and gained insight on doing something like this in the future. Bravo!

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  10. I love double wedding ring quilts. It is so impressive how you are giving it new like and more beauty. I’m sure that someone is looking down smiling at all the special touches that you have put into heirloom.
    I love your work.

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  12. I am enjoying this series – it’s wonderful that you’re saving this pretty quilt. I’m sure the quilt maker is looking down and smiling to know that her hard work will continue to be enjoyed and keep someone warm. I love the extra embellishments too. It reminds me of the Japanese Kintsugi (sp?) pottery – where broken pottery is mended with gold: highlighting the mending spot and making it part of the artistry of the piece. This is quilt kintsugi 🙂

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      1. That’s an amazing save of that poor quilt. I love the melon addition. I have tons of pieces of lace and such, never thought about using them the way you are, thanks for the ideas!

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