Forever Quilting 4 You

November 2024 Island batik

This month Island Batik Ambassadors were tasked to make a Dresden quilt. Editor’s Note: I researched the history of the Dresden Quilt for those of you who are new to quilting and might not yet be familiar with what a “Dresden Quilt” is, I know I wasn’t. In the days of yore, it was known as the Dresden Plate, which is a circular quilt block composed of multiple pointed petals that resemble a flower, often with a contrasting center, and is typically created by piecing together triangular fabric shapes and then applying them to a background fabric, giving the appearance of a floral motif. The name “Dresden” is derived from the ornate porcelain plates produced in Dresden, Germany, known for their floral designs. This quilt pattern became widely popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Now, back to my sister Tori’s blog for this month’s challenge – The Dresden. 

At the beginning of this year when I started looking at quilt patterns for 2024 Ambassadors’ monthly challenges, I came across one that I really liked. It was a vintage pattern for a Dresden quilt. I was very excited about making it and even chose the color of fabrics I wanted to use when the time came – yellow and brown. All year long I’ve been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to use the pattern for one of my challenges, and that time has come! I was very excited when I saw that a Dresden Quilt was this month’s challenge. I was so ready to get started! But whoa Nelly! Slow your roll! When I looked through the two boxes of goodies I received from Island Batik earlier this year, there weren’t any yellow or brown fabrics. This created quite a dilemma. But you know… as evidenced in my past blogs, I’ve overcome much worse dilemmas than this.

Needing to change my color vision for this Dresden, I put on my “creativity hat” and continued my search through the treasure trove of fabrics in the boxes, hoping to find something that would work with the vintage pattern I chose. As I was searching, I found some beautiful fall-colored fabrics from the Island Batik Willow Creek collection.

Switching hats to my “designer hat,” I began the task of making these fabrics work in my Dresden. But when it came time to put the fabrics in order so they would look good in the quilt, I just couldn’t make it work, at least not enough to my liking. I found myself faced with another dilemma.

On my bucket (or thimble) list, I added that 2025 would be the year I would create a pattern to be published. But as 2025 was quickly approaching, I needed to figure out how to accomplish that when the pattern I had in mind to create was one that I had seen in a magazine. To get a pattern published I must come up with an original design of my own. Since I was not sure where to start, I turned to EQ8 and began browsing through the different Dresden designs. Fortunately for me there was plenty to choose from.

I began using ideas from the vintage Dresden pattern I had. Then I started playing around in EQ8 trying to come up with my own design, but I was really struggling to get the program to do what I wanted. Every time I exited the program, my work didn’t save. I couldn’t figure out why EQ8 wasn’t working!!! Well, you may have guessed, it turned out to be an operator error!!! I sensed that Nelly had been somewhere close. I needed to slow down and start again. I then remembered that before exiting the program it would be a good idea to hit the save button!!! I know… what novel idea, right?!!! After several more attempts I finally created the pattern I had envisioned. But when I stood back and looked at the design, I became a bit frustrated and overwhelmed. I had 13 Dresden blocks and nothing else. Truthfully, it looked crappy. So, I removed about half of the Dresden blocks and replaced them with an Irish chain block, another pattern I’ve loved forever. This time when I stood back to check it out, I was very happy with what I saw! This was it! My own, original design, one that I could have published! 

Excited to get started on my new pattern I started downloading the Willow Creek fabrics into EQ8. That was a lot of fun… NOT! EQ8 stopped working again!!! Yep, you guessed it! It turned out to be another operator error! I laughed out loud and then got back to work! I tried several more times, and successfully downloaded all 20 of the fabrics into the program. I then assigned the colors to the blocks. I then printed the requirements and the templates and started cutting the fabric pieces. I started cutting the Dresden pieces since that was the initial challenge, and I wanted to make sure I had enough fabric to make all of them. Although I knew if I didn’t, I could use any of the other half yard cuts that I chose to make the other blocks.

The first Dresden I made didn’t go so well – I needed to make some adjustments, but once I figured that out, I was on a roll and Nelly was nowhere to be found! Making the next 3 Dresdens was much easier. I then started working on the center Dresden block, which was the largest of the 5 blocks. This one was challenging because it wasn’t designed with a hole in the center, and when I pieced the block together the center was too bulky. To fix that I decided to make a hole in the center and cover it up with a circle of fabric, matching the other 4!

Moving on to the Irish chain block, I started cutting the background fabrics, thinking I was still on track… but then here came Nelly again! Whoa!!! I had to slow down! I realized that I had cut some of the pieces too short! These dilemmas are becoming a real pain in my… progress (wink-wink)! I then remembered a conversation I had with my dad many years ago about why he made the decision to only work with metal. He said if he made a mistake all he had to do was weld another piece of metal to the mistake and he was good to go. You know, that’s a brilliant idea, but working with fabric isn’t that easy. Although, there had to be options, so I thought about that for a while and came up with these 3: 

1 – recut everything at the right size, using the same fabric, 

2 – add more of the same fabric to the ones that are too short, making them the right size,

3 – add a different color fabric to the existing theme and start over. 

Pondering these options I asked myself a few questions – was I going to enter this quilt into a show where it was going to be judged? No. Was I planning to give it to someone as a gift? No. And was it a pieced quilt? Yes. With that last affirmative answer,  I decided to add more of the same fabric to the “too short” pieces and get back on track. I started making the first Irish chain block to see how it would look and realized that I hadn’t cut enough pieces to make all 12 blocks I needed. At that point I had been working on the project for 12 hours and decided I needed to take a break, so I quit for the day to rest my brain.

The next morning, I grabbed my usual huge cup of coffee and set out to finish making the Irish chain blocks. As I began working on them, I started to get excited thinking about how they would look with the Dresden blocks in the corners, which was part of my design. As I started putting the first row together, I realized that I had only glued the Dresden flowers to the background fabric. Before I could continue, I had to sew them down. I grabbed my box of Aurifil thread and looked for thread that would match the fabrics I was using. I know, this is not my usual approach to choosing thread, but every once in a while I get the crazy idea to change up things. As I began sewing down the Dresdens one by one, the blocks started coming together. I was very happy after finishing the first row and seeing how it turned out, it was just how I pictured it! But then, after spending another 12 hours working on this, it was 8:30 and I was beat. Although I really wanted to finish putting everything together that day, I just couldn’t sew another stitch! I knew that with another full night’s sleep, I would be rested and ready to start refreshed in the morning. 

The next morning, I woke up and to my surprise it was still dark. What was that about? Oh, it was only 5:30 and I usually don’t wake up until the sun has peeked through the blinds on my window. As I was laying there in the dark, I got a bright idea to go to my favorite coffee place, Dutch Brothers, and get my favorite large cup of coffee. Apparently, I wasn’t quite awake yet, because halfway there I figured out why it was so dark, not only outside but also in my car! I had forgotten to turn on my lights before I backed out of my driveway. I fumbled around in the dark and quickly turned on the headlights. I made it to Dutch Brothers earlier than normal, which turned out to be a good thing… I was the second car in line, which doesn’t usually happen. I got my coffee and headed home.

Once in the house I found my way to the sewing room and sat down at my machine. I was determined to get the quilt done that day because I wanted to get to the post office and mail it to my quilter in Texas for the final touches, the quilting. I then remembered that I didn’t have enough pieces to complete the Irish chain and needed to cut more fabric. I only had about 25” left of the fabric I needed, and I still had the border to do…  crap! I then breathed a sigh of relief remembering that I had decided to add more of the same fabric to the pieces I had cut too short.

After I finished the Irish chain and my coffee and before I could start sewing again, I needed another large cup of coffee. Once I had that, I headed back to work adding the border around the center Dresden. I then added the sashing and the outer border. After measuring the quilt several times (I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “measure several times, cut once”), I was certain that I had enough fabric to make the outer border. Well, it turned out I didn’t. I figured out that I had gotten the measurements wrong and needed to find more fabric to make the cornerstones. I found a fabric that would complement the quilt. Once the cornerstones were added, the border was complete! I had finally finished the quilt and crossed the finish line.

After another 12-hour day I was exhausted… again! But there was still more to be done. I gathered up some batting and backing for the quilt, then made dinner for me and my daughter (who had been patiently waiting to eat), and as soon as I finished dinner, the day and the quilt were done, gone was the sun, all was well, and it was time to rest.

So, what did I learn this month?

When making plans early in the year, when the time comes to start and complete those plans, it’s important to be prepared and allow time to make needed adjustments.

No matter how exciting it was to create my own original design, it was a lot of work, and it took time and patience to reach the point when I could say – I like it!

Making mistakes when cutting fabric isn’t the end of the world. If you’re willing to be patient and think about ways to solve the problem, you’ll be surprised at what you come up with.

When I think about the mistakes I make, I wonder “will anyone ever see them?” In the grand scheme of things, probably not. (Editor’s note: Ask sister about her Bali Star bed runner…)

Working long hours to finish a quilt is exhausting, but I always get through it and I’m happy that I never give up.

And now I’m going to go pack my sewing machine and bags for a weeklong get-away (a quilting retreat in the mountains) with my sissy and my other dear friend both of whom I’ve known since kindergarten! Yay! Road trip (and an egg salad sandwich)!!! Let the fun begin!

Until next time what is on your sewing table today!

Victoria aka Tori

Thank you to out sponsors for the following items:

Aurifil Thread, Hobbs Batting, Island Batik Fabrics Willow Creek, Oliso Iron, Schmetz Needles and Susan Zubillaga for the quilting!