Dresden Plate Tutorial, Part Two

I nearly forgot I was planning to write up a tutorial for this (which is why there are no photos for the first several steps – oops).  For the record, you can find Part One of the tutorial, here.

1.  I cut out a background fabric 17" square.  This is actually a little larger than I need.  I figure I’ll trim it back a bit after I decide on how I’m laying out the blocks.

2.  Fold the background square in half and press.  Open up and fold the other way and press along the fold.  The folds quarter the block and help you orient the plate.

3.  Center the plate on the fabric using the folds to orient the block.  You can pin the plate in place, or – like I do – place small dots of Roxanne’s Glue Baste It behind the points to hold the plate in place.  Iron to set the glue.

4.  Attach the block using your preferred method: hand applique, button-hole stitch, or edge stitching.  (I used edge stitching).

5.  If you like, cut out the fabric behind the plate to reduce bulk. 

6.  (Okay, finally, we’re back to the place where I have photos).  Making the inner circle:  directions that come with the die suggest cutting out two circles for each block, sewing the circles together (right sides together), cutting a hole in the back of one to turn it inside out. 

That’s not how I did it.  I wanted my circle to be a smidge larger so I used applique fiber paper that dissolves after the quilt is washed.  So: I ran the fiber through the die.

7.  Then I cut a circle of fabric about a half inch bigger all the way around the circle.  Place the fabric right side down, the fiber circle on top.  Use a glue stick to edge the entire circle, to about 1/4" in, with glue.  (Make sure your glue stick is good and fresh and puts down a smooth sticky layer of glue).

8.  Gently fold in just the very edge of the fabric.  The goal is to just tip it over the edge of the paper and press the fabric down without any pleats in the fabric moving out to the edge of the circle.

9.  Once you have completed the circle, you can press the remaining fabric down.

10.  In addition to running the applique fiber through the GO!, I also run through a square of freezer paper.  Once I have a circle, I fold it in half twice, once again creating a cross.  Mark the edges of the folds.

11.  Iron the freezer paper onto the right side of the fabric circle.  Since I once again use glue dots to baste the circle in place, I gently dab little dots of glue on the back side of the circle.

12.  I use the marks on the freezer paper and the fold lines on the background fabric to center the circle on the Dresden plate.

13.  Since I’m using glue dots, I iron the circle to set the glue.  You could also just pin it in place.  In either case, remove the paper and then applique the circle down using your preferred method.  Once again, I edge stitched.

14.  Sit back and admire your pretty block.

I have been making progress.  I have all twelve of my blocks done!

Now I need to decide how I’m going to set them.  I like the idea of a bit of scrappy sashing.  Or I could just go with it as they are now.  Is that too bland?  I’m thinking sashing just a half inch wide (since that’s all the fabric I’ve got).

Other news in the news:

Bari won the Karen Stone More Quilts Software.  Congratulations, Bari!

I mentioned wanting to get a couple of mug rugs done before Thanksgiving – so here’s number two.  You can’t tell from the photo but the background fabric is linen and I quilted pretty densely.  Very pretty.  I used the AccuQuilt GO! Cherry Blossoms die for those delicate little flowers.

All I can say is, “Whew!”  I’ve got my quilt mojo back with a vengeance!

An Experiment

Mostly Failed, But For What It’s Worth

Well, for one, I was inspired.  The movie Lincoln is just out:  I am so looking forward to it.  And then the recent election has absorbed me – and casting my vote always moves me, makes me feel absolutely viscerally connected to who we are.  I know that a lot of people go red, white, and blue when they want to do a patriotic quilt.  I go Civil War.

I’m not really that big a fan of red, white, and blue as a color scheme, for one.  Particularly given my orange walls . . .   More importantly, the Civil War is so central to our nation’s history.  I love the Ken Burns series.  I think on Lincoln – “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” and “with malice toward none, with charity for all.”  The Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural. 

All of which led me to pull up an EQ design I had created a few years ago and not gotten to.

I thought how I could use my 1 1/2" finished half square triangle die from AccuQuilt.

And dip into my bin of Civil War reproduction scraps.

I didn’t bother with cutting to size.  I just laid the scraps on the die.

And before long, I had a bunch of nicely trimmed little triangles, light and dark.

The experiment was to see how using triangles and this design on the fusible quilter’s grid interfacing would work.  So, I cut out a 16 inch square and started to lay down triangles.

Until I had all the light triangles down.  Then I put little glue dots in the seam allowance and laid the dark triangles face down on top of the light.

I sewed the seams and ironed all the triangles open.

And then I used the usual technique for sewing the grid.  (I’m not going to show all that again.  If you want to see how it works with another project, you can visit this tutorial).  Here’s the top all sewn together.

At which point, I was less than impressed.  Love the fabrics.  Love the design (which has been around a long, long time).  Was not impressed with how it didn’t come out quite square and how many of my triangles got mooshed -- which was what drove the experiment to begin with – I was curious if I could keep my points.  Answer: only sometimes.  These are good.

These are not.

So, sometime I will try this again, only I will use my usual Miniatures in Minutes method where I use a foundation on vellum paper.  It will no doubt take a little longer but I’ll get much better accuracy.  That will make me happy.

Still, I didn’t quite want to toss this aside.  I decided I could use a couple new mug rugs before we have Thanksgiving dinner here in a week and a half.  I finished this up, so this could be one of them.

Here’s the back – gotta love that bird.

And here it is on the table by the rocker where I spend my evenings.  Good enough, says I.

Tomorrow I’ll announce who won the EQ7 Karen Stone More Quilts software.  And if I can get reasonably good light, I’ll show off my Dresden Plate blocks. 

Karen Stone More Quilts Giveaway

The lovely folks at Electric Quilt offered me a free copy of the Karen Stone More Quilts software with an additional copy to giveaway.  How sweet is that?
I’ve loved Karen Stone’s quilts for a long time, and I bought her previous book and software years ago.  I love this latest add on.  Look at this drop dead gorgeous New York Beauty.

And each of the quilts come with a grey scale version to make it even easier to come up with your own coloring as well.

In addition to the projects, the software also adds the Karen Stone fabric library so you get a great range of fabrics to play with as well. 

Here’s the project that I am eyeing for my first quilt.  I’m thinking it would look really swell on my office wall.

Of course, you can print off the foundations.

There’s 11 quilts on the cd. 

Okay.   That’s a lousy picture.  Much better you go to the website if you’re interested in seeing more. 
So, here’s the deal.  You do need to have EQ7 for this software to work.  This is not a stand alone software package.
But, if you’ve got EQ7 and want a go at this very cool collection of projects, leave a comment on this blog entry.  I’ll enter your name into a drawing.  I’ll leave comments open through Saturday and use Mr. Random Number Generator to pick a winner on Sunday.