Double Wedding Ring Quilt Along: Let's Talk Fabric

Welcome!! Today we're going to talk about one of my most favorite things: Fabric. I have a confesstion. I'm an avid fabric collector. Some may call it "hoarding", but I prefer to call it "collecting". Maybe you can relate? My fabric stash is made up of a bit of everything: treasured reproductions, florals, stripes, solids, new, old, and even some rare, hard to find prints. When I can, I like to pull from my stash for projects that I have in mind, or am starting. This is especially true when I'm trying out a new technique or pattern, and want to make sure I can do it, before I cut into more special fabrics. If I may, I'd like to encourage, and recommend, that you consider this as you begin your Double Wedding Ring. I'm going to be teaching you a technique that, most likely, is very new to you. It can be much easier to learn it when you're not worried about messing up your lovely fabric.

I'm going to be demonstrating three different ways to use fabric for making your arches, which are generally the focus of the Double Wedding Ring design. These are: solid arches, pieced arches and improv pieced arches. Using solid arches, makes creating your DWR fast! If you're apprehensive about piecing your DWR, using solid arches might be the way to go. Pieced arches are what we see more of, traditionally. I'll be showing you how to piece these arches with Piec-lique; no paper-piecing required! Then there's improv pieced arches. Did you know that improv and DWR could even go together?? I cannot wait to show you how to make them!!

As you begin thinking of the fabrics you'd like to use, also think about which method (solid, pieced, and improv) that you want to try for making your arches. Also consider if you'd like to work with prints, solids, hand-dyes, batiks, or a combination. What your fabric is made of, is also an important consideration. I always recommend starting with good quality quilting cotton. As you're learning this technique, and possibly trying the DWR for the first time, you'll probably find cotton fabric to be easier to work with. Once you are comfortable with the technique, and your awesome new skills, trying different types of fabric blends could be a lot of fun. Can you imagine how lucious a DWR made from voile would be? Oh my! But start with cotton. You'll thank yourself later.

Prewashing. I've been a quilter for 13 years. In my time as a teacher, a member of guilds, and a quilting-based business owner, I've heard it all about prewashing. I'm going to be completely honest with you. Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't prewash. (Are you shocked?) There are definitely times, like with turned-edge applique, that I have "rules", and they exist to give me the final results that I want to achieve. Then there are times that I prewash simply because I don't want to risk any bleeding. And there are other times that the "sewing bug" bites, and I impulsively start cutting and sewing, with little regard to whether or not my fabrics have been prewashed. With this block, I highly recommend prewashing, especially if you're past "trying it out" and want to create a Double Wedding Ring quilt that will, someday, be an heirloom piece.

Why prewash for the Double Wedding Ring? Well, I'm not hosting a debate, here, so I'm simply going to pass along information that you can take, and consider, or decide not to use. Prewashing removes any chemicals and excess dyes from the fibers. If you choose fabrics that contrast a lot, like the red and white DWR I'm making, prewashing will keep you from having a heart attack, as I did, when I saw the red start bleeding into my white background. I had already cut all of the pieces, for my arches, and I could have kicked myself. I ended up washing them, though, and I'll save you the drama that came from washing precut fabric. I don't recommend it, at all. If you're using fabrics that are from different manufacturers, and from different decades (like I did), prewashing can help the fibers to relax and shrink back to where they're meant to be. Whatever your choice, please be consistent. If you're going to prewash, be sure to prewash all of the fabrics that you'll be using for your Double Wedding Ring. And if you choose not to prewash, don't let a prewashed piece sneak into the mix. You may end up with a wonky arch, or center, when you weren't going for the wonky look.