Double Wedding Ring

I started this quilt about eight years ago. It seems like longer ago, but I can date its genesis because some of the fabrics used in it were not in my possession before 2004.

I redrafted the pattern because I wanted smoother intersections between the circles. Other patterns I'd seen had square, clunky intersections. Mine are smoother, and slightly diamond-shaped.

First, I foundation-pieced the arcs. Then I sewed the arcs to the lozenge shapes. Then I sewed those units to the I-don't-know-what-those-shapes-are-called.

Then sewing the units into rows, and then sewing the rows together.

For the basting, I took it to a local quilt shop which has a large teaching space. When they're not holding classes, people can come in and use their large tables. A good friend of mine helped me pin-baste it. (She’s a really good friend!)

Next came the quilting (hand quilting that is). I started by outline-quilting just inside all the light areas. Then I designed my own heart-and-feather motifs to fit the odd outlines of the light areas. I’ve been working on that for probably the last five years or so.

I would have finished sooner, but there have been some times where I didn’t work on it. Such as the summertime. When it’s too hot. To be buried under a huge mass of quilt.

But, about a week or so ago, I realized that I was . . . almost . . . done. It was a little anticlimactic, the way it snuck up on me.

In preparation for the last step — sewing on the binding — I sewed together a variety of short strips for a scrappy binding. Yesterday, I spent about an hour sewing it to the quilt, being as careful as I could on the scallops.

Last night, I started hand stitching it to the back.