Attaching the Rings to the Double Wedding Ring Whole Cloth

I decided this weekend that I needed to make major progress on this wholecloth quilt so that I could get it ready for the long arm.  For that to happen, I had to figure out a way to get the double wedding rings attached to the quilt. One idea was to square up the double wedding ring, and then piece that into the whole cloth.  I quickly rejected that idea though, because having gone to the trouble of acquiring extra wide fabric for a whole cloth quilt, it seems a little insane to chop it up into various bits and pieces. Plus, I know that my piecing wasn’t perfect, and the idea of doing the math and paper templates to figure out the curve along the edge just did not appeal to me. So the next logical answer was to treat the double wedding rings like an applique and stitch it to the quilt. I mentioned previously having messed up one of the embroidery stitch-outs early on in the process; the reason for the error was because I did not check that the embroidery was centered in the block before I cut it.  That is really goofy in hindsight, and I should actually learn to trust the little voices in my head – particularly the one that piped up just as I was putting the mat over the die and said, “Are you sure you wanna do that? What if it’s not centered?”  Of course, I have another louder & more obnoxious voice that replied, “Of course I am! What, do you think I’m stupid? I pinned it!” So having discovered that I did indeed cut the embroidery off-center (because I cut according to the center of the fabric, not the center of the embroidery), I determined not to make the same mistake twice – at least not on the same quilt. I think I need little signs posted all over the studio that say, “Is it CENTERED? Really?” because I seem to make this mistake a lot, and not all of these mistakes can be recovered. Anyway, so I wanted to explain that first, in order to introduce the topic of how one goes about centering an applique in a whole cloth quilt. First, you need to make sure your quilt top is square, which I did a couple of weeks ago.  It certainly doesn’t hurt to check it again though; that’s probably the start of another studio sign (“Is it SQUARE? Really?) Once you know the quilt is square, you need to mark off centering lines that are equally spaced across the quilt.  Since I hate drawing on quilt tops with anything but white chalk, and white chalk being impractical for a white quilt, I opted to mark it by creasing the quilt. First, in half width-wise: The crease is on the left.  I press as I go, advancing the quilt top to get to the next section and making sure I’m keeping the edges square as I go.  I used starch to aid in this process.  I actually mix my own starch, and many people have asked me what’s the concentration I use.  So here’s a picture: Fair warning: this is a heavy, stiff starch at 3 cups water, 2 cups liquid starch.  I shake it before using it to keep it evenly distributed.  Yes, I’ve tried Best Press, but that stuff is pretty pricey for as much as it needs to be used.  As soon as my current BP bottle is empty, in will go a homemade starch mixture, because I like the spray nozzle on that bottle better.  Ok, on to the centering!  After folding it width-wise, I then folded it in half lengthwise, and then in half again: Creasing these folds too.  This gave me good reference points for the applique. Next up is to press under the raw edge of the DWR all the way around.  I did this by sight & by feel, easing around curves and tucking in some places where the piecing was not perfect: (Yah, I know I swore off Rowenta, but this one is ok as long as you don’t put water in it. I’m still debating what new iron/steam generator to get.) Now with that task done: It’s time to pin the DWR to the quilt.  I unfolded the quilt onto my cutting table.  I spread it out so that the ring was easy to reach and I could get a smooth surface all the way around. I marked the centers of each ring all the way around, and then aligned them with the centering lines on the quilt top: Smooth, smooth, smooth!  That’s my advice.  It’s like basting a quilt top, pin the centers, pin the ends; find the center between those pins, and keep pinning in that manner all the way around.  I actually alternated pinning, moving to the very center of the ring, pinning it, then moving to the inner arcs, then finally to the outer arcs.  It was a very time consuming process but necessary to make sure the DWR stayed flat and centered.  I didn’t count the pins, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there were a hundred or more: Next, stitch choice and thread choice.  The thread choice was pretty simple – it had to be a monofilament.  If I were doing this by hand, I probably would have used chocolate brown and used a blind stitch, but I am not a hand quilter (except for binding, and even that is rare these days.) The monofilament I chose was MonoPoly by Superior Threads. This is usually for my long arm, but it’s great for this application because I know that it is strong, heat resistant, and won’t yellow or turn brittle over time. It’s also super-thin, so it virtually disappears in the fabric, which is what this application calls for. For the stitch, I wanted something that would travel around the edge and just catch the applique. I chose a narrow blanket stitch for that purpose: I’m also using an open toe embroidery foot so I can see exactly where the needle is going: I try to take out the pins just before I come to them. I decided to use a 70/10 needle, and it is NOT forgiving when it comes to running over pins.    I am also constantly checking the quilt to make sure there isn’t a piece of it tucked under the applique and getting stitched to itself. This is actually a pretty precarious stitching situation: with all the pins sticking out here there and everywhere, it’s not about whether or not you will stab yourself, but rather how many times & with how much blood in the process.  It is literally… painstaking work.  I went all the way around the outside ring in a continuous blanket stitch: And then I stitched the inside ring using a straight stitch, and finally picked up a couple of points that weren’t continuous. In some places, I did actually stitch on top of the ring rather than in the ditch; this helped me to secure some spots where my piecing wasn’t perfect.  I tried to be consistent all the way around – so that it didn’t look too willy-nilly.  Although the stitches are fairly invisible from a distance, if you were to look closely, you’d probably find my little boops and bobbles. After a couple of hours (I lost track) here is the result! Now I get to prep it for the long arm, and over the next week or so, agonize over the quilting pattern and thread choice.  I’m pretty sure that I’ll be stippling this, but at what size I’m not quite sure yet. Your next question is “why stipple?” Well, I know that whole cloth quilts are typically covered in feathers and all sorts of complex shapes, and if this were my quilt, I might think about doing that.  But the other consideration of design that I don’t think I’ve discussed up to this point is the budget of the client.  Adding heirloom designs and pulling off really dense complex quilting is time consuming, and time is money.  I have happily wasted both time and money of my own, but I tend to be a lot more considerate when it comes to other people, and making sure that they get a good value for what they pay. I’m actually thinking about a stipple design that is very dense in the center and then gradually radiates out into a looser and looser stipple as it works out toward the edges.  In order to do that and pull it off, I’m going to need to float the quilt top so that I can roll the quilt back and forth as I go.  This is one quilt where I may actually elect to start quilting in the center and work my way out.  I cut the quilt top at 87″ to start, and I’m expecting to lose about 4-5″ in the quilting and squaring by the time I’m done.  This will be quite an adventure, eh? To endless possibilities, Ebony

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