Wedding Ring Quilts (part 3): Virginia Robertson Designs

As part of our series on outstanding Wedding Ring quilts, we are pleased to present Virginia Robertson Designs. Virginia is a quilt artist, fabric designer and international teacher who has been working in the fabric industry for 30 years. Virginia has been the art director for Princess Mirah's Batiks for the last six years, and many of her quilts feature these gorgeous Bali batiks. Here are some of her wonderful designs.

Glowing Wedding Ring Pattern by Virginia Robertson Designs

The Glowing Wedding Ring quilt shown above is created from Princess Mirah Batiks in a rainbow of hues.  We love the blend of warm and cool colors, and the contemporary, squared-off shape of the interlocking rings.  Make it as big as you wish by adding more rings; in addition to the quilt pattern and acrylic templates, complete kits with Bali Batiks are available.

Crazy Wedding Ring Pattern, 40 x 40", by Virginia Robertson Designs

You can use up all your scraps when sewing this Crazy Wedding Ring quilt ! The 40" wall hanging may be made larger by adding more rings. Create a festive look for Valentine's Day by combining all kinds of bright red prints, checks, polka dots, or even small pieces of plaids.  An Easter or springtime color scheme can be made sewing a background of white-on-white fabrics and rings with pale lavender, baby pink, soft yellow, and pastel turquoise tones.

Dresden Plate Wedding Ring Pattern by Virginia Robertson Designs

This clever design is a combination of a Dresden Plate with Wedding Rings. The rounded and notched shapes remind us of interlocking gears; we can imagine this quilt in a number of interesting textures including black-and-white prints, polka dots, batiks, or Japanese indigos. For a variation, you can try a monochromatic color scheme in pale pinks, rose tones, fuschias, and magentas.  You could also work with an analogous color scheme of cyan blues, lime green, and shades of grape.

Broken Pickle Dish Pattern, 72.5 x 72.5", by Virginia Robertson Designs

As mentioned in our first article on Wedding Ring Quilts, a "Pickle Dish" is a Wedding Ring variation in which the rings are made with triangular pieces. Here is Virginia Robertson's Broken Pickle Dish variation, which has a different setting than her Pickle Dish Quilt pattern.  The color scheme is reversed so that the points are gold, and the fractured background is a scrap bag collection of jewel tone fabrics. There are enough foundation paper arcs included in the pattern to create a 72 1/2" square quilt; you can order additional foundation papers if you wish to make a larger size quilt.

Fat Wedding Ring Pattern, 47 x 47", by Virginia Robertson Designs

This dynamic quilt features a 16-patch section where the fat rings intersect.  You can create a happy 47" wall hanging or make it larger by adding more rings. Prairie points add an interesting finish to the quilt! For a lighthearted classic look, use a cream or ecru background and 1930's tiny prints in bubble-gum pink, mint green, tangerine orange, and lemon yellow.

If you are interested in making a Mini wedding ring quilt - 20" square - please visit Virginia Robertson Designs and check out these mini quilt patterns: Mini Wedding Ring,  Batik Mini Wedding Ring,  Scrappy Wedding Ring, Mini Pickle Dish and Broken Mini Pickle Dish.

Image credits:  Images are shown with the generous permission of Virginia Robertson.

Wedding Ring quilts (part 2): Judy Niemeyer Designs

As we continue our coverage of wedding ring quilts, today we're bringing you some beautiful double wedding ring patterns by Judy Niemeyer Quilting. Judy Niemeyer Quilting is a family owned business based in Kalispell, Montana and incorporated in 1996. Judy's Foundation Paper Piecing patterns are designed to enable quilters with minimal previous experience to create intricate and complex heirloom quality quilts.

Wedding Star, 67 x 67" by Tammy Zanella

Here is Judy Niemeyer's Bali Wedding Star pattern, sewn by Tammy Zanella. We originally featured Tammy's quilt as part of our coverage of the 2012 quilt show by the Guild of Quilters of Contra Costa County in California. We really like the lively curved border which provides so much energy around the outside of the quilt.

Close-up of Wedding Star by Tammy Zanella

Tammy says,  "This is a Judy Niemayer paper pieced pattern. It was machine trapunto quilted using Hari Walner's method."  Clear monochromatic shades of blue are interspersed with red-orange to form a strong geometric effect.

Bali Wedding Star, 80 x 80",  Judy Niemeyer Quilting

 

The Bali Wedding Star was actually one of Judy Niemeyer's very first designs. It was originally designed for paper piecing about 15 years ago. Recently, while redrafting the stars,  Judy and Bradley Niemeyer added template layout sheets to speed up the cutting process for the stars (which now have floating points) and background pieces. In recent years, Judy has been teaching a new technique using strip piecing to complete the foundation piecing of the arcs.

Flowers for my Wedding Ring, 87 x 100",  Judy Niemeyer Quilting

Flowers For My Wedding is available as a pattern from Judy Niemeyer or a  quilt kit size 88 x 99 from Keepsake Quilting.  This quilt kit contains Bali fabrics for the top and binding, including precut 2 1/2" strips, and pattern with Judy and Bradley Niemeyer's directions and printed paper foundations.  Notice that the background is not bright white, but is done in shades of icy pastels, which provides a softly dappled effect to complement the multi-colored rings of the foreground.

Grandma's Wedding Ring, 68 x 80", Judy Niemeyer Quilting

Grandma's Wedding Ring follows in the traditional wedding ring style of omitting border strips and attaching the binding directly to the outside of the arcs, thus accentuating the circular motif.  A technique called Foundation Strip Piecing is used to piece the Wedding Ring arcs. Traditional piecing is used to assemble four squares for the background units. Traditional curved piecing is required to assemble the arcs, centers, and melons. Note that by varying the color scheme, you can make a very contemporary quilt from this old, beloved pattern. For example, you could make the background out of charcoal gray and black, while making the arcs in cool hues of icy pastels.

Diamond Wedding Ring, 70 x 72", Judy Niemeyer Quilting

 

Judy Niemeyer notes that her Diamond Wedding Ring has been in the design stage for approximately 15 years. In this design, the pieced arcs are arranged in a triangle shape, with a star in the center.  Judy says that it is great for both the beginner and advanced quilter, because the foundation paper piecing has easy curves which lie flat when finished. Judy adds,  "I've developed a strip piecing method for the arcs, added an extra star behind the center star, and used a variation of colors to complement this design."

Diamond Wedding Ring by Diana Simkins as seen at Judy Niemeyer Quilting

Here is a beautiful Diamond Wedding Ring quilt made by Diana Simkins, who is a Certified Instructor for Judy Niemeyer Quilting. Diana achieved a luminous effect by using a gradation of fabrics, from light to dark, in the rings; the pink toned fabrics are echoed in the border strips. You can get many more ideas by viewing the Diamond Wedding Ring gallery.

Image credits:  Photos  are shown with the generous permission of Judy Niemeyer Quilting.  The photos of Tammy Zanella's quilt are by Quilt Inspiration. 

Wedding Ring Quilt Inspiration and Free Patterns!

The Double Wedding Ring is the most popular pattern in the history of quilting. Here are some inspiring quilts !  NOTE:  This post has been UPDATED.  For the latest patterns, please go to our Free Pattern Day for Wedding Ring quilts (CLICK HERE!)

Note: Please check out our eBay shop for great bargains on quilt patterns, fabric, and unique vintage jewelry ! 

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, 2013 Raffle Quilt by the River City Quilters Guild (California);  photo by Quilt Inspiration

First place winner for "Best Group Quilt" in their 2012 quilt show, this is the RCQG’s Opportunity Quilt for 2013. It is adapted from Jennifer Chiaverini’s Caroline’s Wedding Quilt  (a Double Wedding Ring quilt embellished with floral appliqués, a cherished gift for a very special bride). The quilt was made by 25 applique artists and 4 piecers. This quilt has four gradations of red and green fabrics, creating an elegant luminous quality.  You can see the detail of the blocks in the close-up photo:

Bachelor's Wedding Ring by Eric Gunson of Pieceful Expressions

Shown above is Eric Gunson's "Bachelor's Wedding Ring". We first featured this stunning quilt in a 2011 Blue Quilt series called The Blues. Eric Gunson is the lead designer at Pieceful Expressions, which is his family's business in Sisters, Oregon.  To our knowledge they are no longer producing patterns, but you can sometimes find individual patterns on eBay or Etsy.

Double Wedding Ring design

The diagram below shows the pieces which form the rings in a basic Double Wedding Ring quilt:

In this diagram there are 6 fabric wedges in each arc, but there may be as many as twelve or more. The wedges can be cut from templates and pieced traditionally, or they can be foundation paper pieced. Once the arcs are constructed, they are attached to the melons (B) and center shapes (A) with curved piecing; alternatively, the finished arcs can be appliqued on a background block. In addition, the arcs can be made from a single fabric, without any piecing, as in the auction quilt shown below:

The Double Wedding Ring design - first published in 1928 - is believed to be a variation of an even older pattern called Pickle Dish (see the article by historian Barbara Brackman).  Barbara explains that a wedding ring quilt has four-sided patches in the arcs, whereas a pickle dish quilt has triangular pieces as shown below.

Pickle Dish Quilt, c. 1930, seen at Ebay

  Kaffe Fassett's Pickle Dish Quilt

Just when you thought the naming was straightforward, on the cover of Kaffe Fassett's Quilt Romance there is a hot pink quilt which looks like a cross between a fat wedding ring and a Dresden fan.  This is Kaffe Fassett's Pickle Dish Quilt. Whether you call it a Pickle Dish or a Double Wedding Ring, we love Kaffe's brilliant, vintage-inspired design !

Golden Wedding Ring, 1940's, seen at Ebay 

This beautiful and unusual vintage quilt from the 1940's features a design known as a Golden Wedding Ring.  We love the sunny orange and yellow stars:

We can hardly wait to show you some more fabulous variations. Use the search bar in the upper left corner of this blog to see more Wedding Ring quilts!

Image credits: Note: this post was updated on February 17, 2025.  Photos are copyright of the owners.

River City Quilt Show - Day 3

We're in the middle of displaying some gorgeous quilts from the 2012 River City Quilters' Guild show in Sacramento, California.  Please join us for Day 3 !

Blue Birds of Happiness, 60 x 70”,  by Sally Willey, quilted by Chloe Bradshaw

Artist Sally Willey writes about this Judge's Choice winner and First Place winner for best hand quilting,  "I love blue birds and have two blue bird houses on our property. A fun quilt to make and it always makes me smile. Hand quilted by my sister Chloe Bradshaw." We recognize the design as My Whimsical Quilt Garden by Piece o’ Cake Designs. Sally's quilt has a wonderful border, which echoes the flowers, leaves and stems of the blocks. Here's a quilt which fits perfectly with the theme of this year's show: "Rhapsody in Bloom."

Close-up, Blue Birds of Happiness

Chloe Bradshaw's immaculate and precise hand quilting really shows up well here. Notice how the lively flowers and bluebird  extend themselves into the cheerful red and white sashing to provide a charming, informal effect.

Close-up, Blue Birds of Happiness

These little bluebirds seem to be full of personality; you can almost hear them singing their hearts out. We love this applique technique, which turned out extremely well.

It’s In The Bag, 43 x 57”, by Linda Lawrence, quilted by Inga Waegell

Honorable Mention winner for Two Person Applique Quilt, Linda Lawrence writes,  "I will never make a real purse. This is as close as that will happen." Note: we recognize some Kaffe Fassett fabrics in the purses. This cute, colorful pattern really brought a smile to our faces.

Close-up, It's In The Bag

A girl can never have too many handbags, especially when they're as eye-catching as these pretty ones!  Are you ready to go shopping?

Red and White all Over, 72 x 90”, by Kathy Mitchell

Second place winner for Large Pieced Quilts, Kathy says, " I watched the Red and White Quilt Show held in New York City in March 2011 on YouTube. It was amazing; but this one quilt caught my eye and I was inspired to make it. I’m sure it’s the only two-color quilt I will ever make, but I was happy with the result." Pure red and white is a dynamic combination, and Kathy's excellent pattern selection really shows off these two colors to their best advantage.

Tamarindo Night, 46 x 60”, by Kitty Oliver

Third place winner in the Art Quilts category, Kitty Oliver describes her quilt by writing, " ‘The night walked down the sky with the moon in her hand’. Frederic Lawrence Knowles." The background ombre fabric seems to be hand-dyed, creating a luminous evening sky.

Close-up, Tamarindo Night

The pumpkin orange moon provides an excellent warm complementary color to the indigo, periwinkle, and tinted aqua tones of the background.

Close-up, Tamarindo Night

These interesting large embroidery stitches in the background provide interesting detail and depth to this work. Note the moon done in mesh fabric here, almost as if we are looking at the reflection of the moon on the ocean.

Crystal Gem, 48 x 48”, by Mary Fish

Mary writes, "This is my version of the cover quilt on the Gai Perry 24 Quilted Gems book. Gai got me started but it hung on my design wall for many years waiting for a border. I am happy that it is finally finished." Mary has chosen lovely jewel-tone batiks in cool hues to show off the contemporary trapezoid-shaped pieces of this very interesting pattern.

Images:  All photos are by Quilt Inspiration. 

Cubic construction

One of the beauties of tumbling blocks patterns is the seemingly infinite, and interesting, variations that are possible. Today we're showing several of our favorite contemporary quilts that incorporate tumbling blocks in some form: small or large, hollow or solid, floating or tessellated.

Hollow Cube, by Carol Capshaw



In Hollow Cube, the faces of the large tumbling blocks have been cut out, leaving a frame around the openings. The openings are filled with triangles, which are shaded to represent the back, floor, and sides of the cubes. The olive green and dark blue background has been rendered in textured batiks, giving it the quality of a landscape. We love the quilt, and the name of Carol's blog, To Be Fearless. We hope that Carol's workshops at OQSO include tips on fearlessness!


Blue Cubes, 65 x 76, by Martha Borders



In Blue Cubes, Martha has separated the tumbling blocks from each other so that they appear to be floating. The beauty of this elegant quilt comes in no small part from the hand-marbled cottons, which are arrayed in colors ranging from forest green to teal and turquoise blue. The swirled marbling reminds us of the deep blue sea.

Note added on December 22, 2010:  the website at marthaborders.com has closed.  See a profile of Martha Borders at Smollin.com.


Twin Towers, 32 by 24, by BJ Reed



The two large blocks in the quilt above are a remembrance of the Twin Towers in New York City. The blocks are constructed with crazy patch piecing, using fabrics in shades of rust and blue with red accents. BJ combined hand-dyed and painted fabrics, commercial batiks and geometric prints, satins and lames. The linear quilting on the building surfaces adds shading and dimension. The pattern for this wonderful quilt can be obtained at Piecemaking, LLC.

Hexagonal Rhythm, 1 meter square, by Jane Wilson at Jane's Quilts



In this original wall hanging, Jane has combined hexagons with tumbling blocks and elongated cubes, all in muted primary colors. The juxtaposition of shapes, and the angled arrangement of the houses, gives this piece a lively sense of movement or "rhythm". For more information and detailed views, visit Jane's Quilts.

All images are courtesy of the artists.

The hollow cube pattern is from Sara Nephew's Big Book of Building Block Quilts, available at Soft Expressions.

Arizona Quilt Show

We attended the 'Sol y Sombra' (Sun and Shade) quilt show last weekend, and had a fantastic time. The show is an annual production of the Arizona Quilters Guild, and this one was a whopper. A total of 333 quilts were on display for two and a half days, and thousands of quilt lovers were in attendance. Awards were given in an array of categories, for large/medium/small quilts that were pieced, appliqued, or mixed techniques; as well as art quilts, pictorial, miniature quilts, and other categories.

Today, we're showing a sampling of the quilts we liked (there were so many wonderful ones, it was a bit hard to choose). Which of these are your favorites?

Canyon Walls, 46(w) x 40(h), by Sheila Groman


The inspiration for this beautiful landscape wall hanging was the quilter's six-day raft trip through the Grand Canyon. In designing the quilt, Sheila made use of photos from the trip, capturing the red rock of the canyon walls and the brilliant blue of the river.

Desert Geckos, 29(w) x 26(h), by Elisa Lawrance


The panel, completed by stitched and appliqué techniques, is a day/night desert scene of scampering geckos escaping the scorching "sol" and into the cool night "sombra." The piping and crystals, along with the leafy batiks, add energy to the piece. The quilter was inspired by classes taught by Susan Vassallo and Sarah Vedeler.


Tropical Blend, 44 x 44, by Sharon Brooks



This stunning quilt won a blue ribbon. It is a pieced wall quilt that was professionally machine quilted. Sharon says that this quilt was started in a Carol Doak class several years ago. "It was completed within a few months then got tucked away in a drawer. Upon finding it recently, I decided it was time to quilt it…finally!" The quilt was embellished with crystals which enhanced the intricate quilting design (see detail above).

Joy Too, 58 x 58, by Dorothy Alliss


Dorothy Alliss says: "A few years ago I saw this ("Joy") quilt in a magazine and fell in love with it." The quilt design was by Jacqueline deJonge (see link at the end of the post).


The Path Not Taken, 42(w) x 45(h), by Sherryl Buchler


Sherryl Buchler is a fan of Shibori and hand-dyed fabrics, and she created the original design of "The Path Not Taken". Sherryl says that she stared at the fabrics for 8 months before the pattern "spoke" to her. The graceful, elongated figures are perfectly composed as they stroll along the path.

What's In Your Box? 62(w) x 51(h), by Elisa Lawrance





Elisa Lawrance chose brilliant Southwest batiks for this open tumbling block pattern. Thanks to the selection of bright batiks, along with a dramatic black background, the boxes appear to be lit from within. Minimal quilting in the boxes helped to define and accentuate the cubes (see detail view). The "Think Inside the Box" pattern inspired this quilt; see the links at the end of this post.

The Wright Stuff, 58" x 34", by Wanda Seale



"The Wright Stuff" was made for the AQG's 2009 President's Challenge. The pattern is from Jackie Robinson's book of Frank Lloyd Wright window designs (for the link, see below). The quilting was done by Jessica Brunnemer.

Audacious Hearts, 56" x 56", by Jeanne Copeland



This beautiful quilt was based on a 1995 pattern by Monica Calvert. The clamshell shapes form layers of hearts in red and black, giving the appearance of loops of ribbons. Jeanne Copeland says that she purchased the pattern in 1995, and finally decided to take the plunge in 2009. The quilting was done by Sherry Jack.

Spring in my Step, 70 x 70, by Ann Petersen



"Spring in my Step", above, won third prize in the Master's division (for quilters who have previously won a major award.) Ann Peterson started with a traditional sunflower block, then designed three very different approaches to making it. Spring" refers to the spring-like colors, and "step" refers to the sashing, which reminded Ann of stepping stones. The quilt was machine-pieced, machine-appliqued, and quilted by Ann on a regular sewing machine.

Am I Blue, 90" x 90", by Patricia "Pat" Ballantine


This fabulous quilt was based on an Irene Berry pattern in the May 2007 Quilter's Newsletter. The quilt was paper-pieced, and each 6 inch block (196 in the quilt) has 24 seams! The photo shows a detail view of the blocks. The quilting was done by Donna Reed.

Pickled, 83"(w) x 59"(h) by Ann Slater



The quilt was based on a class taught by Mary Lewkowitz of the Bernina Connection, using the "Christmas Pickle" design by Nancy Smith and Lynda Milligan. Ann Slater says: "I thought this would be a good way to learn paper piecing, not exactly a small project. Many times I felt like I was "in a pickle" or that I needed to "get pickled" to finish this." The photo shows a portion of this bed-sized quilt.

Variations on a Theme by Klimt, 66"(w) x 34"(h), by Linda Schoenfeld


This stunning art quilt won a blue ribbon in the wall quilts category. A detail view is shown above. The piece is a tapestry, incorporating a variety of fabrics - including taffeta and chiffon - along together with the gold tapestry borders, which are embellished with jeweled buttons. Linda Schoenfeld says that the geometric motifs, scrolls and curlicues of Gustave Klimt (1862-1918) have always inspired her.

Quilt show photos are by Quilt Inspiration.

The 'Sol y Sombra' quilt show is an annual production of the Arizona Quilters Guild, Phoenix, AZ. See their site to view more quilts, and to purchase a CD collection of all the quilts in the show.

For quilt patterns that are referenced above, see your local quilt store and the following online resources:

For the Christmas Pickle pattern by Nancy Smith and Lynda Milligan, see the Great American Quilt Factory

For Quilts in the Tradition of Frank Lloyd Wright, see Jackie Robinson's book

For the Color Me Blue pattern by Irene Barry, see the foundation piecing diagram here

For the Joy pattern and other designs by Jacqueline deJonge, see Be Colourful. For an online distributor, see Everything Quilts

For the "Think Inside the Box" pattern by Cathy Wierzbicki, see Time to Quilt