The Most Nagging UFO

Did you see the Ask Bonnie! post yesterday where, among other things, Bonnie turned the tables and asked the question, "What is the one big UFO that you would like to work on?"  
Well, this is mine.

The book doesn't come with the
templates (there are pages of
instructions), but I think it is
worth the extra cost.

Most of the "football" shapes made by the two arcs and little narrow slivers are sewn together, but the big center pieces are unattached. There are two more rows to go, and I have all of the pieces cut and the arcs all sewn. I've never had it out since I got my design wall earlier this summer, so this is the first time I have put it up here. I learned something in the process. My background print is directional--I had never noticed before. I will have to be careful when I sew it all together. 

 

Templates come in a variety
of sizes--see package top.

 Double wedding ring has been on   my quilt bucket list since before I knew what a bucket list was. My husband's aunt had made a few and I was often suggesting that she teach a class in our community--she was already doing a BOM in her home. When she decided to do it she suggested we just come with the fabrics to make a table topper and learn the technique. Then we could apply what we had learned to make a larger quilt later. (I followed that suggestion, though many chose to bring fabric for a whole quilt.) She has made the Double Wedding Ring quilt using a variety of techniques and her favorite is the John Flynn template method, so that is what we used. I went through my stash and chose fabrics that would match my living room so I could use the table topper on an end table there. I only had to buy one fat quarter to complete my color palette! I was pleased.
There were about 10 of us in her home that day learning this method to make the rings. I admit, it was pretty slick, but I think that day I also realized how slow I am. The BOM I had been attending in her home was mostly frequented by relatively new quilters. I was often last to finish, but only because I took so long to decide which fabrics to use, not because of my sewing speed. When this day was over I know there was at least one woman who had completed a full-size quilt top before going home. (Eleanor Burns didn't lie, you can make a quilt in a day!) I still hadn't finished my table topper. I sat among those women thinking some of their machines sounded more like race cars revving up, than sewing machines. 

This was a few years ago. So why haven't I finished it by now?
I discovered it was going to be too big for the intended table, so I decided to make it bigger and drape it across the back of the sofa. After all, I had chosen colors specifically to match the living room. But did I have enough of the fabrics? I unearthed what was left of them and it looked like I was good to go, except for the fat quarter I had purchased. Though I had just purchased it the week before, the LQS was out of it and wouldn't be getting more in. They did give me the name of the fabric line and designer. I found it online and got it ordered. 
Upon its arrival I got everything cut and started sewing. When I had decided to go bigger I had also chosen to use a variety of background fabrics in the ecru/cream range. For one thing, I like scrappy, and for another, I didn't have enough of a matching background to do the whole thing and was too cheap to buy more. After getting a few "footballs" made from the arcs and background fabrics, I laid them out with the center background pieces. I didn't like it. Discouraged, I put it away. Months later, with renewed interest, I unpicked the few background pieces I had already sewn to the arcs. I broke down and bought a new background fabric. I laid it out in a sunny spot and placed the sewn arcs upon it. I didn't like it. Packed it all away again.
It took two more tries before I found a match that passed the "sunny spot" test. 
By that time I had lost my steam on the whole thing and it had sunk to the bottom of the list. It just never seems to have risen to the top again. You know how that goes. You need this quilt finished for the new baby, that one for a graduation gift, and another one for Christmas giving. But when do the ones you want to make just to keep become your top priority? So far I don't have an answer for that.


If you are still with me, you are amazingly patient, but I beg your indulgence a little longer because I want your opinion. Unless this is your first visit here, you are no doubt familiar with the Tree of Life quilt I am making my youngest son. It is a memory quilt representing his two years as a missionary in Brazil. I am using the colors of the Brazilian flag, combined with more earthy tones, and each block has significance to his experiences there. As I have said before, it is not an attempt to win any design awards. But I am stumped as to the outer border(s). I don't like to make bed quilts square, so in an attempt to avoid that, I only put the "cobblestone" blocks around the sides and bottom. They are not sewn on yet, but I'm pretty sure they will stay this way. I had to do some partial blocks as filler, since the Ocean Waves are 16" blocks and the Cobblestones are 12" blocks. I wanted to finish with a few inch wide border around the whole quilt. I tried a brown, but thought it wasn't a good finish.

I know many of you have commented that when you see something on the design wall it is a totally different effect than when you see it in a photo. Not until I saw this photo did I realize how much the Ocean Waves blocks stand out from the dullness of the other colors. 
Anyway, my next attempt was to add a narrow blue border between the Cobblestones and the outer brown strip.

I liked it better. But still, when I saw it in the photo I wasn't sure. Next I replaced the inner blue strip with a green.

Hmmm, not so sure about that one. Now, my boldest move was to put the yellow in its place.

Better than I expected. Maybe this is what it needs to bring some of the brightness of the center out to the duller edge. Do I need to change that dark blue middle border to a green for a less abrupt transition? What would you do? (Starting over may be what you would do, but it is not an option for me.)
Well, we are in the midst of a thunderstorm and the power has already gone out once during this process. That was probably a hint that I should have quit a long time ago. But this storm is nothing compared to what some of you are facing. 
Prayers go out to those in the path of Irene. Stay safe! 
Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.
p.s. The soap is cured, packaged and sent. You winners should be seeing it soon!