November 2024 – Lana Russel

Dresden Plate Blog Hop

This month’s challenge was to make a Dresden quilt lap size or larger using the Surprise Bundle we received from Island Batik.

My Surprise Bundle was Midnight Garden, a beautiful collection of blues, purples, and a bit of gold. This was designed by Jerry Khiev as a Spring/ Summer collection and will be shipping to shops beginning next month. Ask for it at your local quilt shop.

Here is my 1/2 yard bundle along with 2 yards each of two coordinating fabrics, a light and a dark shown in the upper right. I added two background fabrics previously supplied by Island Batik.

I had never made a Dresden Quilt before, but remembered I met a girl the first time I attended the Empty Spools Seminar who had written a book with patterns for Dresden Quilts. I purchased the book and template from her, Amalie Belden, so I perused through the book and chose a pattern that appealed to me. I preferred the pointed top blade, so I made that change.

I thought this was adorable. Of course, I’m a sucker for polka dots. But I did change the blades to a pointed top instead of the flat top.

I took this project with me to a quilt retreat. Here I’m just getting started making 180 Dresden blades! Yum, those colors! I used Aurifil 50 weight for piecing.

I like the movement this background fabric provides! It’s Moo Milk!

I so enjoyed quilting the blades by freemotioning the swirls on my Handi Quilter Forte 24. Too fun!

This background is lavender and I love how it brings out the purples.

It’s always exciting to see it all come together, even if it is using blue tape on a wall to make it happen.

These are the four corners, the last part of the puzzle.

And here’s the finish. I really love it! It finishes at 48×48. First Dresden and first time making flange binding. I love the border Amelie designed for this quilt as well. I used Hobbs Heirloom cotton batting and loved the soft texture! I quilted it on my Handi Quilter Forte 24 longarm.