Vintage Design - Quilted in Two Passes
Previously, I wrote about a vintage double wedding ring quilt top that I was working on for my friend Corinne. I found a way to quilt each row using two passes of my longarm quilting machine and posted about it on Instagram (@karynquilts). So many fellow quilters wanted me to share it with them.
Longarm quilting paths are like puzzles. I always try to find a way to minimize my starts and stops. It saves a ton of time when custom quilting. This double wedding ring required my attention and I had to cover a lot of area as efficiently as possible. Using designs such as ribbon candy in the arcs is fast. I stabilized the structure of the quilt with that design by going over many of the seams in the piecing.
Getting Started on the First Row
I began on the left side of the quilt and did ribbon candy across the upper arcs all the way over. This was my first pass. My second pass included the lower arcs, horizontal white footballs and four patch junction.
Quilting the Main Section of the First Row - the First Path
I began the body of the first row, which incorporates the upper arc, the "square" shape in the middle, the vertical arcs and the vertical football. Follow the yellow path. Along the way at the lower right hand corner of the white inner "square" there's a jumping off point (yellow/pink lines) that gets me into the innermost space.
After I exit the inner square, I go to the vertical arcs (yellow lines) up on the left and down on the right. At the bottom there is another jumping off point that gets me into the vertical white :football". I curl up into it and back out the same way and head over to the next set of upper arcs to my right. Follow the yellow lines to trace the path.
Quilting the Second Path
The second path starts on the lower rings. I quilted across to the right side of the horizontal football where there is another jumping off spot. I curled out into that shape and came back out to the same point. The swirl and bump back design was perfect! Next I ditched down just a bit to get access to the four patch. I quilted continuous curve around the inner seams in that four patch back to my starting spot. Then I ditched one more seam to allow access to the next set of lower arcs to my right. Follow the pink lines to trace the path.
The Inner "Square" Shape of the Double Wedding Ring
The inner square sections needed an "out and back" design to return me to the proper place to make the path continuous. Dividing the square into four quadrants gave me room to quilt feathers around the perimeter and exit out the way I came in.
It's not unusual for new longarmers to have trouble visualizing a path that can go across a quilt and not complete each block. I invite you to use hints from this blog to soften your visual field and see "past the block" into lines that can flow from section to section.
Here is another photo of the entire path for you to see the whole scheme.
Finishing Your Double Wedding Ring Quilt
If you love to piece tops and need your top quilted, I'd be happy to quilt for you! Visit my Quilting Services page for more information, give me a call at (518) 755-6059 or email me at info@karynquilts.com. I'm on Facebook and Instagram. Follow me there to see more quilting posts and to get notified when I post on the blog!
If you're a longarm quilter, I hope this blog post has helped you look at pathways to solving your quilting puzzles! Your comments are welcome!