Rhonda Dort

Class 4 Information

The Double Wedding Ring quilt class begins! I’m teaching this class via Facebook at: the 1914 Boehm House Vintage Linens Classes group. So why the posting here also? I’ve found many of the participants find it easier to print from this website than from Facebook. It would be my preference that all questions/comments be posted via the Facebook group, thanks in advance.

This post is loaded with pictures and below all but a few you will find information.

For some of you we will be moving slow, for others the pace will be crazy fast. Just keep in mind these instructions will be here in this Blog post maybe for years to come.

Keep up with your reading and remember, quilting is supposed to be fun!!! 😵‍💫❤️😵‍💫🤣🤣🤣

Read through everything at least once BEFORE you begin. BEFORE! NOT AFTER!! 👍 You’ll thank me later…

But how big will your quilt be? This is your decision! It can be as small or a large as you wish. The graphics at the end of this post will help you to determine how many blocks you will need to make.

No matter what kind of DWR you are making, you need to make your block center pieces first, well before cutting any of your beautiful quilting fabrics!

Now…let me say…you may want to wait for a few weeks to do your decorative sewing machine stitching around your vintage linens motif shapes. This is totally your call. I knew exactly what I wanted on the Christmas quilt so I decorative stitched them immediately, the vintage linen circles, I waited until I and all my fabrics cut out and placed.

For my pieced arc Christmas themed quilt top I’ve chosen to use the acrylic DWR templates from Marti Michell.

One of the two dies with the Accuquilt DWR template set I used to make the solid arc reproduction fabrics quilt.

I knew I wanted to fussy cut the various motifs found in this vintage Christmas tablecloth. I chose my fabrics to compliment the tablecloth as well as carry out the Christmas red and green theme. Of note: the tablecloth background is white but I chose a variety of fabrics with both white and ivory.

I’m not crazy about what I will call the “lime green” but because it was used extensively throughout the tablecloth I knew I needed it to make an appearance in the fabrics.
The next step will be to choose the fabric for the block centers as well as the “football” melon shaped centers. Football??? When the two arcs are sewn to the center melon the resulting piece reminds me of a football.

My next step was to cut out the DWR center piece. 📌 Remember!!! It is very important to cut this piece out on the “straight of grain” of your fabric!! Wonder what straight of grain means? Google it for more info. Fold opposite corners together and finger press the fold. Repeat with the other two opposite corners. You now know the exact center of your DWR center piece. If you plan to applique vintage linens to this center piece you will need to perform this “fold and press” step to each of your block center pieces.
Because you have cut the block center on the straight of grain, the diagonal folds will be on the bias. 📌 Use caution so as not to stretch the block as you finger press these two fold lines.

There’s lots going on in the picture above. First, I’m showing you that the Accuquilt template outline on the left is smaller than the Marti Michell acrylic template on the right. This is just one example to illustrate why you should never mix templates from different manufacturers. Second I’m showing you that if you are using the right side template, use care as you layout and cut the large piece because the melon piece can easily be cut from what looks like waste fabric left behind!

Here’s an example of my comment earlier about cutting out the large center piece and having enough left over fabric to cut out the football melon. 📌 SAVE YOUR SCRAPS!

Have you decided how large your quilt will be? A project 4 blocks wide by 6 blocks long will require 24 blocks. As you cut out your center pieces, keep track of them. In this picture above I’ve stacked my pieces in groups of 10.

If you plan to applique vintage linens circles to your quilt block, the next few pictures are important for you. Remember from above how to find the exact center of a symmetrical block piece? Fold to opposite corners and/or sides. My longarm circle templates comes in handy because it has registration marks at 3, 6, 9 and 12.

Using a Frixion Pen I drew around the acrylic circle and then using a ruler, I made marks at 3, 6, 9 and 12 showing there the quarter inch seam allowance will fall. Because I planned to use a built in sewing machine decorative design to applique my “raw edge” circles to the block center, I needed to know the outer most limits so as to not catch the applique stitches in the seam.

Using the same acrylic circle template, I begin auditioning vintage linens to see what will fall within the circle confines all the while looking wonderful.

Once happy with the placement of the circle template I drew around the OUTSIDE of the template with my Frixion Pen.

Elmer’s Washable School Glue once again is the best for a project like this! I run a small amount of glue all around the INSIDE of my marked circle. Using my finger or the glue bottle orange top I smear the glue a bit.

I lay the vintage linens circle directly onto the large block center piece and YES!!! I’m very happy with the look.

But what if you’re using something like my vintage Christmas tablecloth for your center motifs?

You will measure side to side at the narrowest point of your center block piece, both horizontally and vertically. This will determine the size of square that will fit your block center. Just like above, you will need to take into consideration your quarter inch seam allowances. I prefer to work with squares so for easy math let’s say the narrowest measurement is 6 inches. We know we will need to account for quarter inch seams so the largest square we can use will be 5 1/2”.
Do you see the finger pressed diagonal fold lines above? They are absolutely key to properly centering your square feature motif. Each of the four square points must match up exactly with the diagonal fold lines.

One final thought for today if you are using a vintage tablecloth…if you need 36 blocks but you only have 30 motifs…you’re in trouble. This is where planning ahead comes in. If I would have needed more blocks I could have easily cut squares of the holly, pieced them together in a 4 Patch and used that in my block center. PLAN AHEAD, PLAN AHEAD, PLAN AHEAD! Don’t reach the “almost end” and realize you don’t have enough to finish! 🙂❤️☹️❤️🙂

If you purchased the Marti Michell template set you will have already received some excellent DWR black and white layout graphics. If not, my search of the internet found these two pictures above you may find useful.

Whew! Is all this more than you bargained for on day one? Take your time! Like I said a few weeks ago, Class 4 will progress slowly!

Blessings to all for a wonderful New Year, for health and happiness and for a TOTALLY FABULOUS DOUBLE WEDDING RING QUILT! ❤️🙂❤️

Rhonda