The Double Wedding Rings Quilt Pattern: A Timeless Classic Worth Making Again
There are quilts that follow trends, and then there are quilts that transcend them entirely. The Double Wedding Rings pattern belongs firmly in the second category. Whether you discovered it folded on your grandmother’s cedar chest, spotted it at a craft fair, or stumbled across Ashlee Brotzell’s modern take on this beloved design, you already know there is something magnetic about this pattern. It draws people in. It keeps quilters coming back. And once you make one, you will understand exactly why.
This blog post is a deep dive into everything you need to know about the Double Wedding Rings quilt pattern, with a particular focus on Ashlee Brotzell’s approach to making it approachable, accurate, and absolutely beautiful for quilters of all skill levels.
What Is the Double Wedding Rings Quilt Pattern?
The Double Wedding Rings quilt is one of the most recognizable designs in all of American quilting. Its signature look — interlocking curved rings arranged across the quilt surface — creates a flowing, romantic quality that no other pattern quite replicates. The overlapping circles symbolize unity, continuity, and the joining of two people, which is why it has been a popular wedding and anniversary gift for generations.
The pattern dates back to at least the late 19th century, though it grew especially popular during the 1920s and 1930s when quilters embraced the challenge of curved piecing and used up fabric scraps to create the multicolored arcs that give the design its signature charm. Depression-era quilters often made Double Wedding Rings quilts from feed sacks and salvaged fabric, turning humble materials into something genuinely breathtaking.
Today, the pattern enjoys a full and enthusiastic revival. Modern quilters love it for the same reasons their great-grandmothers did: it is visually complex, deeply satisfying to complete, and it photographs beautifully.
Why Ashlee Brotzell’s Version Stands Apart
If you have spent any time in the modern quilting community, you have probably come across Ashlee Brotzell’s name. She has a gift for taking classic patterns and presenting them in a way that removes the intimidation factor without sacrificing any of the artistry. Her Double Wedding Rings pattern is a perfect example of that philosophy at work.
What makes her version particularly special is the clarity of her instructions. Curved piecing is the part that sends many quilters running in the opposite direction, and for good reason — when instructions are vague or templates are imprecise, curved seams can buckle, pucker, and produce a result that looks nothing like the photo on the cover. Ashlee’s pattern addresses this head-on. Her template pieces are designed for accuracy, her instructions walk you through the clipping and pinning process in a way that actually makes sense, and her tips for pressing curved seams are the kind of hard-won wisdom that only comes from making these quilts many times over.
She also approaches the pattern with a modern sensibility. While traditional Double Wedding Rings quilts often feature dozens of small scrappy pieces in the arcs, Ashlee’s version offers options for both the scrappy traditionalist and the quilter who prefers a more curated, intentional color palette. This flexibility means the pattern works just as beautifully in a collection of low-volume neutrals as it does in bold, high-contrast prints.
Fabric Selection: How to Make Your Double Wedding Rings Quilt Sing
Choosing fabric for a Double Wedding Rings quilt is one of the most enjoyable parts of the entire process, and it is worth taking some time to think it through before you start cutting.
The traditional approach is to use a wide variety of scrappy prints in the arcs while keeping the background and melon pieces a consistent neutral — often white, cream, or a soft gray. This creates that classic look where the colorful rings seem to float against a clean ground. If you have a stash of fabric you have been collecting for years without knowing what to do with it, this is your pattern.
The modern approach flips this convention in interesting ways. Some quilters choose a limited palette of two or three colors and rotate them through the arcs in a deliberate sequence, creating a graphic, almost geometric effect. Others use a single bold print for all the arc pieces and let the curved seaming itself become the visual statement. Still others choose a dark or richly colored background and use lighter prints in the arcs, reversing the traditional value arrangement entirely.
Ashlee Brotzell’s pattern gives you room to experiment with all of these approaches. The key principles to keep in mind regardless of your color choices are contrast and value. The rings need to read clearly against the background, which means paying attention to how light or dark your fabrics are relative to each other. Hold them up together in natural light, squint your eyes slightly, and see whether the ring shapes still read clearly. If everything blurs together at the same value level, you may want to adjust your selections.
Pre-washing your fabric is a matter of personal preference, but given how much work goes into a Double Wedding Rings quilt, many experienced quilters recommend it to avoid any shrinkage or color bleeding after the quilt is finished.
The Anatomy of a Double Wedding Rings Block
Understanding the individual components of this pattern helps demystify the construction process considerably. A Double Wedding Rings quilt is not actually made of full rings — it is made of curved units that, when assembled together, create the illusion of continuous interlocking circles.
The main pieces are the arc units, the melon shapes, and the background squares. The arcs are made up of small wedge-shaped pieces sewn together into a curved strip. Each arc is then sewn to a melon-shaped piece (sometimes called a football shape) to complete one unit. These units are then joined to background squares and to each other to build out the full quilt top.
The curved seam between the arc and the melon is where most quilters spend their nervous energy, and rightfully so — it requires sewing a convex curve to a concave curve, which is the opposite of the straight seams most quilters are accustomed to. But it is absolutely manageable with the right preparation.
The most important step is clipping. Before you sew, clip small notches into the seam allowance of the concave (inward-curving) piece at regular intervals. These clips allow the fabric to open up and spread so it can lie flat against the convex piece without pulling. How many clips you make depends on the size of your pieces and how tight the curve is, but generally speaking, more clips give you more control.
Pinning generously is also essential. Match the centers of the two pieces first, pin, then work your way out toward the ends, pinning every inch or so. Take your time with this step rather than rushing — a few extra minutes of careful pinning can mean the difference between a smooth, professional curve and a wobbly, puckered one.
Sewing slowly with a slightly shorter stitch length than usual gives you more control over the seam. After sewing, press the seam toward the arc (or as directed in Ashlee’s specific instructions), and you will be amazed at how flat and smooth the finished piece looks.
Tips for Accurate Template Cutting
Accuracy in cutting is the foundation of everything that comes after. With curved piecing, even small inconsistencies in cutting can compound over the course of the quilt, leading to pieces that do not line up correctly when you go to assemble the top.
Ashlee Brotzell’s pattern includes templates, and getting the most out of them starts with preparing them carefully. Print the templates on cardstock or glue them to cardstock after printing on regular paper — this gives you a firm edge to trace around and helps the templates hold up through many uses. Cut them out precisely along the printed lines.
When tracing templates onto your fabric, use a fine-line marking tool that shows up clearly on your fabric but can be removed or that falls within the seam allowance. Many quilters prefer a mechanical pencil for light fabrics or a chalk marker for darker ones.
If you are using a rotary cutter with your templates, consider purchasing the kind of heavy-duty, heat-resistant template plastic that is designed to be used with a rotary cutter rather than traced around. This speeds up cutting considerably and gives you very consistent results.
Lay out your pieces before you start sewing and verify that your arcs, melons, and background squares are consistent in size. Catching a mismatch before sewing saves significant time and frustration compared to discovering it after the fact.
Assembling the Quilt Top
Once your units are made, the assembly process for a Double Wedding Rings quilt is more straightforward than it might appear from looking at the finished product. The key is to work systematically in rows or sections rather than trying to sew everything together at once.
Ashlee’s pattern will guide you through the specific assembly sequence for her version, but the general principle is to join your units in diagonal rows or blocks, then join those rows together. Press your seams consistently in one direction within each row, then in the opposite direction for adjacent rows, so the seams nest together nicely at the joints.
Pay attention to the places where multiple seam allowances converge — these intersections are where you are most likely to end up with bulk that is hard to press flat. Pressing those seam allowances open rather than to one side can help distribute the bulk more evenly in these spots.
Give your quilt top a final press on a flat surface before sandwiching it for quilting, smoothing out any remaining waviness and squaring up the edges if needed.
Quilting Your Double Wedding Rings Quilt
The quilting design you choose for a Double Wedding Rings top can either enhance the circular, flowing quality of the piecing or create an interesting contrast against it. Both are valid approaches.
Following the rings with free-motion quilting — echoing the curves with lines of stitching that radiate outward from the pieced rings — reinforces the circular movement of the design beautifully. This approach is particularly lovely when done with a thread color that blends with the background fabric, letting the piecing remain the star of the show.
Stippling or pebbling in the background areas while leaving the rings themselves relatively unquilted is another classic approach that adds texture and makes the rings pop forward visually.
For quilters who prefer a more graphic, modern look, straight-line quilting across the entire quilt in a grid or diagonal pattern creates a striking tension between the curved piecing and the angular quilting lines. This approach works especially well when the quilt is made in a modern, limited color palette.
Longarm quilters love Double Wedding Rings quilts because the curved design provides a natural framework for elegant pantagraph patterns. If you do not have a longarm yourself, many local quilt shops and longarm services are well acquainted with this quilt pattern and can suggest designs that complement it beautifully.
Finishing Touches: Binding and Backing
The backing and binding of your Double Wedding Rings quilt deserve as much thought as the front. Because the quilt top involves so much careful cutting and piecing, the finishing details are what elevate it from a completed project to an heirloom.
For the backing, a large-scale print or a simple solid in one of the colors from your quilt top works beautifully. Pieced backings are also a wonderful way to use up leftover fabric from the front. Just be sure your backing is at least three to four inches larger than your quilt top on all sides to give yourself room to work during the quilting process.
For binding, a straight-grain binding in a color that frames the quilt without overpowering it is usually the safest choice. A solid fabric binding in a neutral or a tone that picks up one of the colors in your arc pieces lets the quilt design speak for itself. Some quilters choose a scrappy binding made from strips of all the fabrics used in the arcs, which is a charming way to tie the whole project together.
A double-fold binding at a quarter inch is the standard approach for most quilts, and stitching it down by hand on the back is worth the extra time for a quilt this special.
Giving a Double Wedding Rings Quilt as a Gift
There is perhaps no more meaningful handmade gift than a Double Wedding Rings quilt. Because of its symbolic associations with marriage and lasting commitment, it is a natural choice for wedding gifts, anniversary celebrations, and milestone relationship moments. It communicates in a language that goes beyond words — the sheer number of hours invested in the piecing and quilting makes a statement about how much the recipient is valued.
If you are making one as a gift, consider the recipient’s home and aesthetic when choosing your fabrics. A couple with a modern, minimalist home might love a Double Wedding Rings quilt in a restrained palette of two or three colors, while a family with a warm, traditional aesthetic might adore the classic scrappy version.
Including a note with the quilt about the pattern’s history and significance adds a beautiful layer of meaning to the gift. Most people who receive handmade quilts treasure them deeply, but knowing the story behind the design makes that connection even richer.
Getting Started with Ashlee Brotzell’s Double Wedding Rings Pattern
If you have been admiring this pattern from afar and have not yet taken the plunge, there is no better time than now. Ashlee Brotzell’s version of the Double Wedding Rings pattern is a wonderful entry point for quilters who want to try curved piecing for the first time, and it is equally rewarding for experienced quilters who want a well-drafted, beautifully designed pattern to add to their repertoire.
Gather your fabrics, print your templates carefully, take your time with those curved seams, and trust the process. The Double Wedding Rings quilt has been made and loved for well over a century, by quilters in every imaginable circumstance, and it has earned its legendary status. When you finish yours and spread it out to admire it, you will understand completely why this pattern has never gone out of style — and why it never will.
Happy quilting.
