Blogger's Quilt Festival, Hand quilting
A Different Dresden-Blogger’s Quilt Festival Entry 2
May
Let me start once again with a big thank you to Amy and all of the great sponsors who make this possible to showcase our work.
This is my second entry for the Blogger’s Quilt Festival, in the Bed Quilt section.
The story behind this quilt starts with “The Plate Fabric”.
I have no idea of the original designer or manufacturer. If I had to guess, I’d say maybe Hoffman, purely due to the metallic gold accents. In fact, I nearly passed it by altogether. I noticed it on a table, tucked out of the way, as I was leaving the shop over the border in France. I had no idea what I was going to do with it but I just HAD to have it. As I remember, there was plenty of it but it was horribly expensive (think $30/yard) so I only took about a yard and a half of it. Once I got it home, washed & dried it, it sat in my stash for nearly 3 years. Then I came upon a dresden plate pattern with an unusual centre that I liked. I knew then that’s what I wanted to do with “The Plate Fabric”. I spent ages auditioning fabrics, in the end tea-dyeing the turquoise blue because the original was just a bit too bright and using the back of a blue starry fabric with gold accents for the centres. I pieced the plates by machine and then hand-appliquéd them to the background squares of green. I then spent a very long time hand quilting the 1″ cross-hatching. It took ages but I didn’t mind because it was my “go-to” quilt when I needed some hand-work to do during our weekly quilting sessions. It is one of my most treasured quilts and one of the few early ones that I kept rather than giving away. We use it during the hot summers in Geneva, when you barely need a coverlet, and it brings beautiful colour to our bedroom.
Quilt measures 74″ x 92″
Hand-appliqué, curved pieced centres, thin cotton batting
Hand-quilted by me
I hope you’re enjoying all of the wonderful inspiration of the Blogger’s Quilt Festival. To nominate this quilt for the Viewer’s Choice Award, highlight & COPY this url: www.busyneedle.ch/2013/05/23/a-different-dresden/ then click here and complete the form provided. For the main Festival page, click here or on the button in the sidebar.
Happy Quilting!
Wow! That quilt is amazing. The hand quilting really makes is special and I love that plate fabric. Great Job! Good luck in the contest. I am putting in my vote!
Dang, I guess I missed it! Next time:)
Very cheerful!
Beautiful quilting Elita, I know how I’d feel if I accomplished something as wonderful – I’m not surprised it’s one of your most treasured 🙂 How did you go about it? What did you mark the quilting lines with; did you use a frame or a hoop at all? I’ve never used a frame and a hoop drives me nuts, just gets in the way – and there’s something so lovely (and very cosy!) about sitting with a quilt on your lap as you stitch it. Fabulous.
Thanks Stephie. I always quilt with a hoop and I think I’ve had the same hoop for 15 years. It’s a bit thinner than the standard 1″ so it’s not as heavy. I marked the lines with a ruler and a white water-based pencil. That took a while too! 🙂 Didn’t matter how long it took and I really enjoyed having it to cuddle under as I worked on it.
Love your Dresden Plates, Elita. Especially the pieced centers. And the plate fabric is perfect and sew fabulous! I can’t imagine the hours you spent stitching and quilting by hand. Impressive!