The assembly of the double wedding ring has begun. The first "block" was a bit scary, but I eventually figured out that it was the same kind of seaming that I had been doing in the construction of the individual blocks, the only new element being the seam through the middle of the 4-patch (yellow in the photo above). At this point 6 of the 9 blocks are sewn together, and I'm in the process of creating the extra "melon" pieces I will need for the left and bottom edges.

That and trying to make the blocks lie a little flatter. Since I'm going to be taking it to a long-armer for basting I don't want any major bumps or bubbles in it. Today I decided to try giving the block a good spritzing with water, letting it sit for a minute or two to "relax" the fibers, then pressing the seams well and letting it come to nearly dry on the ironing table. I will then let the blocks lie flat overnight to finish drying. It seems to be helping a lot; as I suspected, I did a fair amount of stretching of the fabric as I sewed, and this is giving all that a chance to relax back into shape. I also changed the direction I pressed the seams partway through (when I went back and reread the directions in John Flynn's book). so am correcting that as much as I can as I go.

Still meditating on how to quilt the large background areas. I'm saying to myself over and over again "Keep it simple, stupid. Keep it simple." It's not just a matter of time; I don't want to do anything that's going to compete with that lovely pattern. Some is needed for the sake of keeping the batting from going wonky. But I'm thinking as little as possible. I even read the instructions on the batting package yesterday; it says 2-4 inches. There's still time to think about that, and Amy may have a good idea too.