Wanted...help....opinions...advice
 

I have been commissioned to hand quilt this quilt. Shown is one of the blocks, which is about 24 inch square, made up of four 12 inch blocks. Set on pure white, very beautiful piecing. The customer had a not so pretty sort of coral for the backing...I suggested maybe something else might be better. I'm looking at a white on white small print for the back, and maybe the binding. Or perhaps a small pink print? The center of the blocks and outside borders are pink( not a pink person:).
Any comments on ideas for backing? And ideas for quilting. Should I just quilt in the ditches or some design in the big pieced portion, another design in solid center and solid corners.Thanks for any help!

As to the quilting, I'd go with your initial thoughts. While as a fellow hand quilter it is somewhat defeatist to me to do SITD, sometimes it just makes the most sense. But the other open areas should definitely showcase your work.

And yes, since the background is a very bright white, I would probably go with a WOW for the backing as well. Not sure I'd go with a pink binding though. Maybe one of the lesser used dark shades in the blades????

I agree with all that is said above. I think a darker binding is the way to showcase the quilt.

I am having a problem with your background fabric as it looks beige on my screen. Which would question white as the backing. If the front is white I would go with the same on the back. Make sure the plates don't run or all your hard work will go down the drain. For the binding I would go with a med colour used in the plates.

I think if you SITD around the wheel wedges in a dark color, that would really give them a lot of definition & could improve the look of the piecing! I agree that a design in the pink centers & in the background fabric would look very nice.
As far as a white on white backing, I guess that depends how it will be used. The downside of white is that is gets duller with time & eventually just looks dirty even straight out of the wash. On top of that, white cotton when it absorbs sweat is very unattractive & difficult to clean. There are so many options to choose from in the wheels besides pink & peach that I think you'd have a hard time going wrong. Personally, I'd go with a red or blue, but if all that pink indicates this is for a little girl: (1) there is no such thing as "too much pink", and (2) purple makes a nice alternative to pink to keep it girly but still keep it from being to monochromatic.

In the bottom block there is a print that looks pink and purple. At about 4 o'clock and again just before 12. Something along those lines would work for the backing.
A feather wreath would work nicely in the centers.

Have you looks at any traditional hand quilting of this large Dresden block quilt?? I would crosshatch the background, stitch 1/4" inside each blade. I am not sure how to advise you on the center circle.

The one thing to consider with WOW is the painted on whites. I am not sure how that is to hand quilt through my

cjsews you are correct. WOW for a backing is a little harder to hand quilt through. Not impossible though.

How about a black background since the darker black/blue/greens have print. Then do a circular winding stitch on the Dresdens which would make the Dresdens seem to float and move.

I think a dark backing would be nicer with this than a light. It might be easier to stitch down the center of each ray than to STID. I agree, some kind of design in the centers is called for. I think cross-hatching the background would look great!

I like the ones that have the quilting done ¼" away from the blade seams even in the center circle. If you have a look at the images on google quite a few of them show good suggestions for quilting of the background. https://www.google.ca/search?q=hand+...FRIwiAodiMkNvA

Over 30 years ago a mother used 18" four sack blocks and sewed Dresden plate pattern with pointed pieces then
hand blanket stitched around them with no fabric in center. 16 years ago her daughter found 24 of them and some other pieced blocks. She now has me making 3 quilts. I sashed them and bought the backing in blue which she requested. Have one top finished and it's getting lots of compliments. Naturally, I laundered all fabric. No problems.
She wants simple --very little quilting.
I am at a loss quilting around the plates since they are pointed but considered an echo idea at the outside edge.
Doesn't want feathers on sashing but I can handle that. I have a few stencils so will have to dig them out .

Any suggestions welcome as long as you read all I wrote to be what the owner wants. I run everything by her even though she is almost blind as these are going to her granddaughters .

Here's my two cents' worth.

Navy binding would be classic, so would work for whatever the age of the recipient. And not all girls like pink. (Clearly you're one of them, and I was too for a long time).

Brown-- trendy

Black-- dramatic

I would make sure a dark backing wouldn't show through the white front. Having said that, I think a dark background would certainly be my preference. I like the idea of SITD of the paddles, and your own unique design for each center. Why do the same thing in every center if you can spice it up with variety? That would look cool on the back as well.

Keep in mind white on wHite is very hard to hand quilt...the white "paint" that makes the design is difficult to put needles through...just a thought.

I agree with Tessagin about winding stitch around the dresdens but would definitely do some flower or such design in the center circle of the dresden. I think a darker binding would be more attractive than a pink. Just my humble opinion.

I have trouble hand quilting white on white and I really don't like sid. I would stitch a straight line down the middle of each piece of the plate and I would put a small feathered circle in the center of each circle. I think a fancy corner feather or in each white area.

What would happen if you extended the stitch down the middle to the outside white area? I would back with a muslin or something that matched the white front but not wow. I wouldn't bind in pink. Cross hatch the the centers sounds good too. I said feather earlier but I like a more modern look and feathers get boring.

Can you see your hand, or a print design through that white background fabric? If you use a medium or dark print for your backing, it might show through, especially if the batting is polyester or a thin batt. Do you know how this quilt will be used? If it is a wall hanging, then a dark back would be okay. If used as a baby quilt, I would quilt it densely, for more sturdiness. If a prominent wall hanging, go for artistry in every stitch. Form follows function in nature; so be it in our arts.

What a unique quilt and a keepsake of sorts. As to quilting, if you stitch 1/4 inch in from the edge of the segments, that will be really close quilting. I would look for a swirly type design, flower petal type or something along that line. A feather wreath would be nice too, maybe even a double wreath, one on the outside, and another on the inside to keep the scale to the size of the segments. Background, I agree with crosshatching. I saw a Dresden plate quilt lately with a y0-yo for the center an it had been stuffed to make it stand out. REally unique, but you would lose the pink of the center. Hopefully out of all these suggestions, some are ones you can use.

I usually try to coordinate a print backing with the front pattern. When I saw your block, I thought "small circles" would work. Here's one I found in a google search to illustrate what I mean:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/2368392...ori?ref=market

Oh I think that pink pinwheel fabric is perfect for those plates with the pink centers. I already have all the fabrics just need quilt design.

For the quilting of the dresdens, how about a spiral that starts in the center and radiates all the way out to the edge of the plate?

I agree to stitch 1/4 inch inside of each blade, I would crosshatch the background and in the center pink block, I would quilt a flower, there are a lot of stencil, that you could use.

remember that some white on white is difficult to hand quilt as it is printed with a paint like substance that sits on top of the fabric. I have found it also unsatisfactory to machine quilt.

Thanks. I like the pinwheels too.pretty..I found some fabric with dots also that mught work.

I agree, although I hadn't thought of it. Have quilted forever but didn't realize the white on white would be hard to quilt...leaning toward more color on back and dark binding. Thanks

If you type Dresden plate quilts in your search line from Internet Explorer you will get a display of many quilts with many designs. Some of them are feathers, one is 1/4 inch in from sections and then feathers done in the white spaces. Lots of inspiration there.. Hope you like it.