Double Wedding Ring Winner!

The Westside Quilters' Guild in Hillsboro, Oregon (of which I am a member) had a wonderful show this past weekend.  They had a great vendor area and over 150 amazing works of art (and of the heart) on display.  I'm proud to announce (blush, blush) that my double wedding ring quilt won the first place viewers' choice ribbon!  I never entered a quilt in a show before.  I was totally blown away when I learned the news!

This is a view of the quilt hanging from the second floor railing.  It's 105inches square- for a king size bed.

Here's a little life lesson learned.  Several people told me that they didn't notice the quilt hanging up high over the vendor area.  And someone made a negative comment about where it was hanging.  I got sucked into the negative comments and was resigned to the fact that I had no chance of winning a ribbon.  I couldn't have been more wrong!  The lesson learned is to NOT allow yourself to get sucked into negative thinking.  The ladies who hung the quilts placed each one where it could best be viewed.

So- when I heard that my quilt would be sporting that big ribbon, I almost fell over! When you win something or learn of any good news and it's a real surprise- it's just all that much sweeter.  I'm not just saying this to be gracious- I REALLY mean it- there were so many absolutely jaw-dropping quilts at this show!  To be selected as a favorite is truly humbling.  I am honored and delighted, and I don't think that any recognition I ever receive in the future will ever mean more than this does.

I do most of my own quilting.  I'm a very experienced piecer, but NOT a very experienced machine quilter!  The way I look at it is that I will not become experienced unless I put in the hours and quilt a lot of quilts.  So- that's what I do.  I make exceptions, however, for quilts that are of heirloom quality.  This quilt was just so special to me that I wanted it to be quilted by a professional.  My friend, Sandy Pennington (Bella Rose Quilts) is a fantastic longarm quilter and she worked her magic on this for me. (I'm on the left- Sandy's on the right).

Here are some close-ups:

64 rings total.  I cut the pieces with the Accuquilt GO! Die Cutter.

Sandy custom-quilted inside each "football shape", and quilted every one of the wedge shapes (over a thousand of them).

Pretty feathers between the rings (times 64)....

And where the rings intersect.

This is a view of the edge.  I think the binding was the most difficult part for me.  I made bias binding (about 500 inches of it).  I made the binding a little thinner so it wouldn't bunch up so much where the outside arcs meet.  I think I spent about 15 hrs on the binding alone.  I estimate that I put a total of about 200- 250 hrs into the top.  Sandy took a week to quilt it.  And who knows how much fabric went into it!

And here is a photo of me with the newlyweds on their wedding day.  Steve is my youngest, and the love of his life is Emily.  I've named the quilt, "Happily Ever After", which is my heart's desire for this couple.  I love them both very much.