My new project
 

I've changed my avatar. I've fallen in love with the Dresden Plate block, so my avatar reflects the new quilt I've started. I am hand-appliqueing the plate onto alternating white and cream-colored paisley fabric. I wasn't able to get 12.5 inch blocks out of the fabric I had, so I made an executive decision to cut them at 12 inches. Worked out just fine.

So far I have 6 done. I'm aiming for 30. I really love this project. Precision cutting, followed by precision sewing, and finally hand sewing in front of the TV. What a great variety.

I love that pattern as well. I made one for a friend that has 2 sizes of plates scattered all over it. The top was just one whole piece. It was so nice to make..I did it all by hand and was thrilled with the outcome.

Wow, love the purple dresdens. Very pretty.

Great projects -- Dresden plates. I got into it several years ago and made a bunch of things. I sewed mine down by machine (when I did the smaller pieces) or left them with the pointed ends. However, I created strata and made pieced blades -- then made Christmas tree skirts (left the hole open), table toppers, etc. A quarter of a Dresden plate is a fan -- and a half made a nice runner on my hall table until someone wanted it.

it's nice to expand our horizons... love the avatar

I love purple but haven't made any Dresden Plate blocks, yet. Be sure to post a photo when finished.

I'm with you 100 % Carol....i love the Dresden plate - pointy - not rounded - edges. Great for hand work only or as a combo of machine and hand....do you use the fold and straight stitch method for creating the points? Love that ! So versatile - as QuiltnLady1 said....and they make great flowers too. We'll be looking forward to seeing the finished product!!

I want to make one. I made an Aster quilt for oldest Daughter years ago. I think the dresden is a lot like it.

Very pretty, can't wait to see the quilt.

Oh, that does sound lovely. Have you posted a picture somewhere? I'd love to see it. The more I get into quilting, and I'm in it pretty deeply now, the more I love the traditional patterns and hand work. Imagine having to make quilts for the solely utilitarian purposes and not just because we love them. Our ancestors have my utmost respect.

Thanks, purple has always been my favorite color, so I guess this means I'm going back to my roots. ;-)

They really are so versatile. I'm sure I will be sick of all this hand-sewing when this project is done, so the next one will probably be by machine. My machine and I are not quite that close yet, but that is just another challenge yet to be conquered. Dresdens are so traditional. I can't help but love them. Pieced blades, by the way, sounds fabulous.

Thanks Nancy, Yes it is nice to expand our horizons. And, it is great fun playing within those ever-expanding horizons.

I will be sure to post a photo in whatever year I finish. hehe.

Hah, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product too. Could be a long time though. I am loving the process though. Yes, I'm fold and stitching the ends to make the points. I have a pretty assembly line process going from cutting the blades to stitching the ends, to pressing each one. I was opening up all the seams on the plate as Eleanor Burns describes, but decided that was just too cumbersome. So now that I'm pressing the seams all to one direction, it is going so much faster. I had a problem with the first block--actually the one pictures--it wouldn't lay down flat. I have since purchased a new 1/4" foot for my sewing machine. It has a little guide on it. Since I started using that, I have no more problems. So apparently sewing was my problem before. It is so nice when it all works.

Oh, I'll have to look that up. I've never heard of that before. I'm having a great time doing this--loving every step of the process.

Oh boy Joyce, me too. Might be a while, but this will be a nice winter project. There is something so homey about sewing in front of a fire, with help from my cats.

I wish I had more patience for hand quilting. Your colors are beautiful.

And often they did it by candle light or gas lights. I'm with you- - I am full of respect and awe for those practical artisans!

very nice .. pretty purples .. Have fun !!

I finally made some Dresden Plate blocks...and I got a little carried away and made so many blocks, there may be three queen sized quilts in the future! I don't know what got into me...I cut so many without any thought as to how many I needed for the quilt top - so I placed a few on a large piece of white material, did a little appliqueing..and now quilting. Will post a pic as soon as I have it all completed. As for the 'orphans' waiting for a place on a quilt, they are in my clear tub along with many other blocks waiting for a new home on yet another quilt. Eventually, I will create a design for them all!

Love all the purples! Hope to see a post of the finished quilt top.

love these and grandmother's fans too.......our "ansisters" we so talented and gave us so much to work with..........

I love the dresden plate as well. Our quilting guild made a beautiful one a few years ago for the yearly raffle and I loved it so much that I copied it and made one for myself. I would have loved to win the one the guild made but, alas, that didn't happen. Anyway, good luck with your quilt and since you said you're new at this...... hoping you will enjoy quilting for many years to come. Perhaps some others will post their dresdens for all of us to drool over.

Thanks--I have always loved purple--any shade or value. Hah, if patience was money, I'd have a bigger sewing room and more fabric on hand. Heck, if patience was money, I'd have a long arm quilting machine.

Maryellen, I couldn't agree more.

Thanks, I will love every minute. Very cute puppy, by the way.

I can certainly see how that could happen. Using a wedge template makes it so easy to cut pieces. It is easy to just keep on going. You may be very happy one day that you have all those extras.

Never enough purple...Since I'm sewing these by hand, a whole quilt top may take me a while. But that's OK. By then I'll be really ready to take on the quilting. That's the fun of quilting--so much variation. Just when you get tired of one activity, there is always another. Never monotonous; always enjoyable.

I know what you mean. Dresdens, grandmother's fans, and even grandmother's flower garden--they are all so traditional. It is like reaching into history when we work on them. At one time I thought quilting was a dying art--but now I believe it will live on forever. And that is a good thing.

Thanks for sharing your lovely quilt. It is beautiful. I had actually considered doing a center medallion with the blocks on point, but decided instead to go really traditional. I may even do the double sashing with the cornerstone. I really like this--perhaps I'll have to make two. hehe.

Love the Dresden Plate pattern but so far have never been brave enough to make a quilt. Yours is going to be beautiful.

I cheat even more -- i draw the 1/4 inch line on one side of each ray....that way if i happen to be doing it by hand, i know exactly where to stitch. ... and if by machine --- the little bit of time it takes to draw the line is made up for by the speed with which i can sew. I press all my seams one way as well.... Maybe i just have a very attentive sewing angel - but thus far i have never had one that didn't lie flat using this method.

I love it in purple too! I made a dresden plate while in Junior High--about 45 years ago. Oh horrors! Can I possibly be that old this soon? Any way, it was a copy of my grandmother's quilt. I asked my dad the name of the pattern and it was known (by him at least) as a single wedding ring! It was years before I knew the real name.

Your Dresden block is very pretty. I haven't tried the Dresden pattern yet. Maybe this winter I can sit by the fire and do some handwork. Thanks for the inspiration.

I'm looking forward to seeing your finished quilt. I haven't tackled the dresden plate yet but it's on my to do list.

Thanks Pepita. I have always loved purple. Funny though, I don't have one purple room in my house. When I finish this, I might have to repaint. That is really neat that your dad knew what to call your grandmother's quilt, even if it wasn't exactly right. Who knows, maybe that was what it was called in her day? It is very ambitious that you made a quilt in junior high. I never even knew what a quilt was in those days. We must be about the same age.

Thanks for your kind words. Quilting in the winter is such a natural fit.

Me too! I can't wait to see how it turns out. For now though, I'm just enjoying the heck out of the process.