It’s that day again…the Double Wedding Ring Quilt Along Day.  We did add the new tab at the top of the page for the directions so they are all in one place.  I need to update it and will do that tomorrow at nap time.  It’s 9:30pm as I write this and have gotten my first “evil eye” of the evening from Hubby.  He’s my time keeper.   If it wasn’t for him telling me it’s bedtime, I’d take on my Dad’s bad habit of not going to bed until midnight.  I love the peace and quiet of night.  So he gives me the “evil eye” from about 9pm on in hopes that I’ll be in bed by 10:30pm.  He does it because he loves me and wants me to sleep not because he’s trying to control me.  After 32 years of marriage…he’s knows controlling me is a worthless cause.

Anyway…back the Double Wedding Ring quilt.  By now, we are to the part in the directions that we are going to start putting rows together.  We are going to go the easy route and start with the second row.

(Excuse my sewing room floor which is the back ground for this picture.  It needs cleaning.) We’re going to be taking two centers with only two melons attached to them and connect them.  I lay mine out like this so I get an idea of where things will connect.

Then I take the two squares to the right and sew them together much like we did in previous instructions.  For me, I’m connecting the green square of the bottom unit to the black striped square of the upper unit.

Pin them together, folding back the seam allowance like we have in the past.

Sew from the pin to the edge.  The print of the fabric makes it look like I already sewed them together but I didn’t.

The two pieces should be connected as shown in the photo below. …

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You ask and I answered.  There is now a tab at the top of the home page for the Double Wedding Ring quilt instructions.

Last week when we left off we were here.

Now the instructions are going to tell you to do things a little bit different.  They want you to make the whole row and then go back and add the third ring.  I don’t like doing it that way as then there is a lot of bulk to deal with when manipulating the pieces.  Adding the third ring before the rows are sewn together make much more sense to me but do it however you want.

So if you’re following along in the instructions, I am deviating at steps 5 & 6.

Here’s a visual of what we’re doing.  The third melon on the right needs to get attached.

To do this, lay the melon over the top melon with right sides together.

Manipulate the first seam like we have been in the past so that no fabric is caught in the seam.

Pin the sew from the edge to the pin- no further.  I back stitch at the pin.

Now, if you don’t already have the center marked, now is the time to do it.  The pin the photo it my middle.

Now the melon flips over into place and the pinning starts.  Just like before, pin the center first.

Then manipulate the end seam as we have done in the past making sure no fabric would be caught in the seam.

Move to the opposite end.  Pull back the seams and adjust making sure the is an overlap of the 1/4′ seam allowance.

Finish pinning like this…. …

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If you made it through last week’s instructions, you’ll do just fine with this week’s instructions.

It’s time to sew the connecting melon in place.  Again all the work will be done with the center blue background piece on top.

With right sides together, pin the middle of the background to the middle of the melon.

Then move towards the corner where the melons intersect.

Just like we did last week, the seam allowances need to be flipped back so that when we sew, we don’t sew them down.

Once they are manipulated, pin them in place.

Then put two pins in between the corner and middle pin.

Now move to the opposite corner.

Flip those seams back and pin in place.

Then put two pins in between the corner and middle pin…like this… …

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It’s that time of the week again.  Time to check in for the Double Wedding Ring Quilt Along.

I’ve continued to do some pinning and sewing and am still ahead of you all but you’re catching up quickly.  I need to be sure to commit some time this week to sewing on this to stay ahead.

Today we start adding the melons onto the background.  I know…looking at it like this you’re likely thinking…”but how?”  I’ll show you.

Start out by finding the middle of two sides of the center background piece.  I don’t have holes in my template so didn’t mark them.  I just fold in half and insert a pin.  That works just fine.  All of the work you do on this should be with the center background piece on top-with right sides together.

Line up the center pin of the background piece with the center of the wedge.

After that pin is in place move to the corner where the wedges are connected.  Line up the corner with the intersection of the wedge pieces.  Fold the seams back.

Notice that the top blue background piece overlaps 1/4″.  Put two other pins between the corner pin and the center pin.

Now move to the other corner.  Again, fold both of the seams back.

Notice how I pinned this in place.  The top of where the pin goes in is marking the place I need to stop sewing.  The bottom of where the pin is going in is hold back the seam.

Then finish pinning.  (Sorry this picture is funky)

Now I start sewing.  I start at the intersection of the wedges.  I line up the needle 1/4″ in from the edge of the center background piece right where my pin is.  I stitch about two stitches forward and one back stitch.

I leave the pins in as I go.  I am sewing so slowly that if the needle would “hit” a pin, it won’t do any damage.  It’s important not to force the edge to line up on the 1/4″ line.  It’s better if it drifts to the left then as you get close to the needle, make sure then it is at the 1/4″ mark.

I watch carefully.  Often times my fingers move right up near the needle to smooth out the fabric as it goes under the needle.  Like this…. …

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