{"id":4202,"date":"2013-02-11T02:40:58","date_gmt":"2013-02-11T02:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/?p=4202"},"modified":"2023-10-06T17:29:06","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T17:29:06","slug":"a-most-romantic-quilt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/news\/a-most-romantic-quilt\/","title":{"rendered":"“A Most Romantic Quilt…”"},"content":{"rendered":"

“There is a most romantic quilt, always in demand.
\nIt’s not the easiest to make, but oh, it looks so fine when finished!”
\n– Rosa, Rhoda’s daughter,
\nin Patricia Wendorf\u2019s novel \u201cDouble Wedding Quilt\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Indeed, the Double Wedding Ring quilt pattern is shrouded in romance and its origin is a bit mysterious.\u00a0 Some consider this pattern among one of the oldest, while others insist that there was no historical mention of it until the 1920s, at least in the U.S.\u00a0 Regardless of the discussions on when and where the pattern originated, the beauty of the Double Wedding Ring quilts transcends.<\/p>\n

\"Double

Double Wedding Ring quilt – c. 1930, very rare – most were made on white background.
Collection of Bill Volckening. Courtesy of Bill Volckening<\/a>.<\/em><\/center><\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise that many Double Wedding Ring quilts have become family heirlooms \u2013 made by grandmothers and mothers for their children and grandchildren.\u00a0 There is a folklore belief that a newly wed couple will be protected from bad dreams and bad luck, and their marriage will be a blessed one if they sleep under a Double Wedding Ring quilt received as a wedding gift.<\/p>\n

\"Double

Double Wedding Ring quilt – c. 1960-1970, made in Missouri;
very rare – most were made on white background.<\/em>
Collection of Bill Volckening. Courtesy of Bill Volckening<\/a>.<\/em><\/center><\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Double

Double Wedding Ring Quilt. Maker Unknown.
c. 1930\u20131940. Cotton, 86 \u00bc\u201d x 72″.
Photo by Gavin Ashworth. Gift of Robert Bishop. Item number 1993.4.19. American Folk Art Museum, New York, New York www.folkartmuseum.org<\/a><\/em><\/center><\/p><\/div>\n

There is a lot of symbolism behind this pattern \u2013 some point to the “gimmal ring,” a betrothal ring popular in 15th<\/sup>-16th<\/sup> centuries.\u00a0 Gimmal ring was two rings fitted together to form one; the two parts were worn separately by the engaged couple, and during the wedding ceremony the rings were interlocked to be worn by the wife.\u00a0 The infinity of Celtic Knot and Roman etching patterns with interlocking rings also comes to mind when we look at a Double Wedding Ring quilt, and the message of eternal love inevitably follows.<\/p>\n

In her novel \u201cDouble Wedding Ring,\u201d<\/a> Patricia Wendorf heartily tells the story of Rhoda Salter, a pioneer woman who was keeping a diary of her journey from her home in Somerset, England, to the United States, after the death of her first husband.\u00a0 When asked by her church to make a quilt for an unknown church donor, she goes along with her daughter\u2019s suggestion of choosing the Double Wedding Ring pattern.\u00a0 “In American families\u2026a qwilt [sic] is so much more than a warm covering in winter.\u00a0 It is a symbol.\u00a0 There are engagement qwilts and bridal qwilts, and each has its own speshul [sic] pattern.”\u00a0 Going along with her daughter\u2019s suggestion, Rhoda creates this quilt, and it\u2019s prophetic \u2013 the man for whom it\u2019s made becomes her husband a short while later.<\/p>\n

You might have seen many different variations of the Double Wedding Ring pattern.\u00a0 It is still very popular as it is challenging, and, as some quilters say, is not for the faint of heart.\u00a0 This week, in the spirit of Valentine\u2019s, we\u2019d like to share some amazing variations \u2013 old and new \u2013 of this most romantic quilt.<\/p>\n

\"Why<\/a>Enjoy, and if you have a story to tell about your own Double Wedding Ring quilt, please do!<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Share your Double Wedding Ring story with us on Facebook<\/a>, or leave a comment below.<\/p>\n

Double Wedding Ring Quilts Gallery<\/h3>\n

Images courtesy of International Quilt Study Center & Museum\u00a0(www.quiltstudy.org)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Click on an image to learn more about each quilt.<\/p>\n

[nggallery id=2]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photography credits:<\/p>\n

Page top<\/em>:\u00a0Double Wedding Ring Quilt. \u00a0<\/em>Mrs. Andy G. Byler, c. 1930\u20131940. Cotton, wool, linen, and rayon. 84\u201d x 66 \u00bd\u201d\u00a0Photo by Scott Bowron. Gift of Irwin Nelson in memory of his grandparents Guerdon Stearns and Elinor Irwin (Chase) Holden, and in honor of his parents, Cyril Arthur and Elise Macy Nelson. Item number 1982.22.3. American Folk Art Museum. New York, New York. www.folkartmuseum.org<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Special thanks to Bill Volckening, Quilt Collector, and Laura Chapman, Communications Coordinator at IQSCM, for their assistance with selection of the images for this post.<\/p>\n

Extract from Patricia Wendorf’s novel “Double Wedding Ring” is available on\u00a0Google Books<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Double Wedding Ring quilt pattern is shrouded in romance and its origin is a bit mysterious. Some consider this pattern among one of the oldest, while others insist that there was no historical mention of it until the 1920s, at least in the U.S. Regardless of the discussions on when and where the pattern originated, the beauty of the Double Wedding Ring quilts transcends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,17,90],"tags":[101,102,107,105,109,103,104,108,106,68],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4202"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4202"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6661,"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4202\/revisions\/6661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}