Category: Double Wedding Ring

Finishes and Updates

I have finally finished something! I started quilting this awhile ago, got frustrated and pushed it to the side of my sewing table. A couple of weeks ago I decided I just needed to bite the bullet and get it done. While I was quilting it, just one block left to quilt, my machine froze up and wouldn’t make another stitch. So emergency trip the next day, 90 minute drive south, to a quilt shop that I trust to work on my machine and do it while I’m there. I was gone all morning, did some retail therapy, and got my machine fixed up. So that meant this week I was able to get the last block quilted, binding machine sewn on and then was able to hand stitch the binding at night while watching tv.

This quilt is my OLDEST UFO and is now complete! Back in 2007 I was a member of the Quilting Stash Podcast Yahoo Group and we decided to do a block swap. We used the 2007 Hoffman Challenge Fabric (the butterfly fabric) and made blocks – if I remember we each made 2 – and sent them to Annie Smith (Quilting Stash Podcast host) and they were sorted and sent back to us. I finished my top in January 2009, but didn’t get around to the quilting part until this year when I wanted to get something done. I started working on the black sashing, then was going to do ruler work on the blocks and was having problems, hence the reason it got pushed to the side of the sewing table. While I want to do different quilting, sometimes you just have to do the best you can to get things done. Cassie has already stolen it for her bed, since mommy still hasn’t finished her bed quilt!

So WAY back in October 2020 I mentioned that I found some cigar boxes with pieces that were possibly meant for a double wedding ring quilt and that there was no way I was going to hand piece one of those. Fast forward 2 years and now I’m doing one via EPP. We are only doing 2 a month and it’s really hard for me to not keep going and do more at a time. But I have so many other projects to work on, I need to try and stick to the 2 a month rule. Now that I have a ScanNCut, I can cut out all my EPP papers instead of buying them, saves me some time and money. I’m using all my 2.5″ squares in the scrap bin, so I didn’t have to buy any additional fabric for this yet. Not sure yet what I’ll be using for the background or backing, we’ll see once I get the whole thing put together next year.

I’m working on getting my blocks completed for our guild block exchange, I finished my first block a little while ago, I need to work on the other set tonight while I watch Ohio State kick some butt. 🙂

Updates

I know, I know….I’ve been missing again! End of the school year was really busy with a graduating 5th grader and 2nd grade field trips and as soon as school was out it was travel time. We’ve had a great summer and now school starts on Monday (8/29). I’ve been spending time working on various projects, cross stitch, EPP and quilting.

Expanding Dresden

This summer I found a new EPP designer, Elise Baek, and have been participating in some of her SAL’s. Yesterday I finished my expanding dresden and just need to applique it to a background and quilt it. It will be finished as a wall hanging. Another SAL from Elise was Dilly Flowers and I did some fussy cutting on some of the flowers. I am planning on using them in a Jack’s Chain quilt – I’ve started putting it together, but I have a lot of 9-patch blocks to put together still.

Dilly Flowers

At the beginning of the year I started a cross stitch SAL with FatQuarterShop.com called Heartfelt. All the motifs were hearts and looked like pieces of patchwork – how could I NOT do it? I stayed on track for the whole SAL and got it finished right on time. I need to work on my finishing skills, but this is the first project I’ve finished in a long time that wasn’t just trimmed and put in a frame. I have a lot more projects coming that will be finished similar to this one that I will be able to practice my techniques on.

Heartfelt SAL

Since I’ve gotten back into cross stitch I’ve started watching flosstubes on Youtube and one of the many I follow is FatQuarterShop. They have so many downloadable patterns and I absolutely loved a set, one geared toward quilting and the other toward cross stitch. I completed the quilting one and at some point I’ll do the cross stitch one.

Quilt-o-graphy

Back in March my father-in-law unexpectedly passed away and while my husband was in California helping his step-mom he volunteered me to make t-shirt quilts with all of his dad’s t-shirt collection. So I’m working on a total of 9 quilts out of 2 large boxes full of t-shirts that we brought home from our California trip in June. First quilt is for his step-mom as I think she needs the memories the most. I have the shirts separated and I’m working on making sure I can fit all the shirts in and I do want to put some pictures in if I can fit them. We’ll see what I can figure out in the near future. The kids start back on Monday and I’m hoping that means I’ll have some time to work on some of the many projects in the queue.

Now that the expanding dresden EPP is done, I’m going to be starting a new EPP project this week. Elise Baek is doing a Double Wedding Ring EPP SAL if you are a member of her EPP Club. We are doing 2 rings a month and it should take about a year to get it finished. Unfortunately I can’t participate in the zoom call tomorrow, kids have open house and orientation, but I’ll watch the replay so I can start basting pieces and start sewing them together.

Back soon!!