Tuesday, December 3, 2013

oh dear, what to do with these diamond wedding ring remnants?


After spending every waking (…and sleeping) hour working away on my NYCMQG dwr entry, I can promise you one thing—I've got more to show for it than this:



Much more.  In fact, five times more, to be exact.

As some of you may know, I originally envisioned this as a king-sized, 8x8 ring quilt (64 in all).  I don't know if it was tunnel vision or merely blind optimism, but until Sunday afternoon I persevered, up to that point having cut 7776 pieces from about a dozen gray oakshotts,


pieced said oakshott confetti into 648 diamond eighths to yield 81 round cut gems,

Yes, lots of the 'shotts were lost in the seams.  The silver lining?
Their thin weight actually lends itself quite well to small-scale paper piecing ;)

cut background pieces and "letterpressed" a select few of 64 centers,

(Sidebar:  The letter-pressed element was lost in the challenge quilt.)

cut 1728 A, 576 B, and 576 (of my own) C template pieces from over 200 liberty prints,

I sorted the arc wedges by value to ensure plenty of glow (with the lowest value prints bordering the diamonds).

pieced 288 arcs,

pressed 288 arcs,
Tip:  Even if you're piecing the arcs, do yourself a favor and get the solid arc template, too.
You can use it to trace "cheat lines" onto an old ironing board cover for simple, accurate pressing.

and assembled nearly every last one of 144 "melons."  At which time an unfortunate light bulb went off in my head:  there was absolutely no way I could quilt and bind a king-sized top in one afternoon, let alone assemble said top.  Gasp.  How could I have let months of planning and preparation result in such so-close-yet-so-far failure?

After all, I had known about the competition since first stumbling upon Faith's post in July during a study break from my con law outline.  And then during a September trip to England, I hijacked any sightseeing plans my husband potentially had in mind and replaced them with (my) high-priority supply trip to Liberty and Shaukat (fortunately my husband, cousin and her boyfriend were all uber-impressed with Liberty).


The fix?  Use 24 of the 144 melons (three from each colorway) to piece a 3x3 ring design, maintaining the integrity and spirit of the original concept without the excessive (albeit symbolic) number 8.

But you already knew that (hence the entry post and opening photograph).  But what you likely didn't realize before reading this is that I have 120 (24x5) pieced melons leftover from this madness (15 each in 8 colorways:  hot pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo, violet).


Which means I can:

(1) make a queen-size quilt (7x7 rings) without have to cut into any more fabric
(2) replenish the melon supply using some leftover arc wedges and move forward with the king quilt as previously planned
(3) make several more smallish quilts to (a) giveaway as gifts, or (b) sell to recoup some of my outlandish material costs.  ...No joke.  I'm aware that all sorts of talented and lucky bloggers get free fabric delivered to their doorstep these days, but I can assure you I am not one such individual (yet).  (Hey, a dreamer can dream, right?)

So.  What do you think I should do? 1? 2? 3? None of the above?  Your help, as always, is greatly appreciated :)

Linking up with Lee!

63 comments:

  1. Holy....wow. Makes my crazy quilt endeavors look pretty tame now, thanks! haha. Amazing work, and gorgeous quilt! I vote you make a queen sized one.

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  2. I wish we lived closer, because I want to hang out with you on your crazy quilting adventures. :D
    I vote for #1. Unless you're not totally sick of it yet in which case go for #2.

    Okay what I really vote for is #3 as long as I can be a recipient of a) or a buyer of b). :)

    Hrm. I don't think I helped narrow that down in the slightest.

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  3. I hope you make the queen size, or even make some more rings for the king.

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  4. Gosh they'd all tempt me at different times, but I reckon the king sized option would be the most satisfying in the end for the original dream! But a queen without too much more input would come a close second...?

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  5. I don't know what you should do...I'm just envious that you've had the amount time you've had to do what you've done!

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  6. WOW you crazy thing! Stick to your plan (2) or adjust and put it together in other way (1) or surprise us with other option which is already buzzing in your head :-)

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  7. I say option (2). Stick with the original dream! Option (1) is good too. I totally understand why you are considering option (3), but I don't think you will be able to sell your quilts for anything like what they are worth, and I would hate to see you sell yourself and your amazing work short.

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  8. I guess the question is, has the little top fulfilled your desire for this quilt? If not, do the queen, or the extra work for the king if this quilt has only whetted your appetitive for this quilt to be on your bed. If you're over it, the. Sell it/give it on. You could just sell on the pieces if you wanted (I volunteer to buy them!!)
    E xx

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  9. Holy cow. That is amazing! And so organised! I am in awe.

    I say Option #2 - go with the original plan, add the necessary melons and make a king size. Then bask in the glory of it. Because it is incredible!

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  10. Loooove it!!! Great fabrics in this beautiful quilt!

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  11. I think 2 would be wonderful, you could follow through with your original symolism. (And I want to see it.)

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  12. OK...first off the bat THANKS for the AWESOME TIP....tracing template on the ironing board cover!!!! A true light bulb moment for me this morning! This will make life much easier!!! :) I love your colors!!! They are just delightful!!!!!
    As for your 'left overs" ...if you can't decided what to do with them.... I will gladly adopt them and give them a happy ever after forever home....just saying... a girl can dream right.... :)
    I've never even considered a wedding ring quilt and of course that is the pattern my daughter wants me to make when she announces her engagement. So I better get busy and master this pattern!

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  13. First of all, I think you should have your head examined to have bitten off that big a bite of inspiration! Seriously, I mean that in the kindest possible way. You might be nuts. :D That said, it is so beautifully impressive that I'd suggest you carry on and do a queen size version of it as it's all cut & ready to go. I think I want to see what comes out from under your needle asap! Well done!

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  14. Congratulations on making such a beautiful quilt. As to what to do with the rest, I think I agree with one of the others here that the decision will come down to whether you have had enough of that particular quilt now. If not, I vote for #2

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  15. Wow! After going through the work of cutting and assembling so much I'd vote for either a queen (or as others have said if you aren't sick of this pattern yet) make a few more for the king. The 3x3 is so beautiful I'd love to see what it looks like as a bed sized quilt.

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  16. WOW!!!! What a wonderful labor of love. I would go with option 1 but option 2 would be awesome also.

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  17. i would make a queen-size with the leftovers. and then i would send it to me to use on my queen bed. ;-)

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  18. I say either do the queen or put in the extra effort for your original plan of king. This is so gorgeous, I can't wait to see it in a bed sized version :)

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  19. Your quilt is absolutely beautiful. I hope that you win the contest. A lot of thought and sweat went into this quilt. Whatever you decide to do with your leftovers is going to be amazing.

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  20. I would make a queen size with the left overs. You can always use solids around the outside to make it king size if you so desire. Don't let all of that hard work be sold/given to someone else!

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  21. If you sell, I definitely want to hear about it! I love wedding ring, but haven't had the time or patience to tackle it yet. And LOVE Liberty. Your quilt is just precious.
    Ramona

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  22. What an amazing quilt; I love the concept and it came out so well! If I were you and had started a double wedding ring of such epic proportions I would make the queen size. You already have all the pieces, and it will be a gorgeous bed quilt.

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  23. This is such an amazing quilt! I'd go crazy and throw in the towel now, but if you can, go for the king or at least the queen. It'll be so worth sleeping under it!

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  24. Go big! Do the king if you can bear to cut and piece more after all this; or do the queen with what you have. But- do you have a queen bed to put it on? Because it doesn't make sense to make a queen if you can't see it regularly afterwards. Whatever you do, your work is stunning. You'll make the right decision!

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  25. holy moly, that just boggles my semi newbie mind. Good grief. I bow down to you! I think since you are so close you should hang in there and go for the King... you definitely wont regret once its done in all its glory!


    Stopping by from Lee's hop
    http://domesticdeficitdisorder.blogspot.com/2013/12/wip-wednesday-dec-4th.html

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  26. this is amazing. if you can stomach the idea, you should make it king-sized like you original plan. Or queen, and buy a smaller bed!

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  27. Make a quilt for your bed. You already got the pieces.

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  28. Your quilt turned out beautifully even though smaller than planned. Great work!

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  29. Amazing!! Love this more and more every time I see it. I vote for the queen quilt and if you're not up for it or feeling generous, I would love to buy a "kit" for a smaller quilt. Can't wait to see what you decide to do!

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  30. You are crazy and brilliant and insane and genius and brilliant and creative and amazing and awe inspiring and did I mention crazy.

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  31. Make the queen. It will be a lifetime treasure, your budget will absorb the difference. Plus it's no rush so you can work on it in a few months. Fabric doesn't spoil!

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  32. If it was me, I'd go with either the queen or smaller ones probably to give to my kids later on. I'm with Cath, you're crazy amazing!

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  33. I love,love,love this quilt...Did I say I love it?!?!?! would go with option 2, and take it all the way. You definitely are brilliant! Anything you come up with will be wonderful!

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  34. Sarah - I take my hat off to you! Dedicated to the cause! I want to see your king size quilt!!!! You have obviously spent many hours already on this - just imagine it on your bed! Encouraging you to Quilt on!

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  35. I think I'm with a lot of 'em and say, if you're not "done" with the idea I'd go for the full queen or king quilt. Either would show off your gorgeous work. Then again the other option is intriguing. Sure if you make other quilts to sell and price them at what a quilt should really be priced at, you could recoup some of the cost. I also liked the idea of selling parts of it as kits. Then you don't have to sew it all together, you can recoup costs, see your beautiful work being made and treasured by others. I think even if you were to sell it in one block mini format people would buy them.
    I think you win any way you end up. Just beautiful, well done!

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  36. This is...by far...my absolute favorite challenge quiltI have seen! It. Is. Stunning!
    Oh, what I wouldn't give to see this one win! Amazing! Congratulationson such a beautiful entry!
    A larger version would be over the top, drop-dead gorgeous!

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  37. Whoa. I'm speechless and have no suggestion for which option you should follow. You're amazing!

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  38. WOW! You have come this far, and if you are going to do it, I would encourage you to go for the GOLD! Replenish and king size it! Good luck.

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  39. I'm assuming you have a king bed so I'd go for the king size finish! You'll get more use and more satisfaction. I must say, I'm gobsmacked at your work! Stunning!

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