Dare to Dresden

Who knew that the Dresden (aka as the Friendship Ring, Ester, Dahlia or the Sunflower block) could create so much eye candy this week? I am truly awed at all the creativity I have seen.  

I was first introduced to the Dresden Plate Quilt Pattern by Eleanor Burns when she was teaching and testing the blocks that were going into her book, Egg Money Quilts. We used a template to make the blades and she demo'd how to make a circle with non-woven interfacing. To this day, I still haven't mastered a decent circle with the interfacing method.

While looking for the block above from Eleanor's class, I found these lovely, beautifully hand sewn blocks. I had forgotten that I had them! My neighbor gave them to me a couple of years ago. There are twenty blocks! She thinks that one of her aunt's may have made the blocks, but wasn't sure.

Believe it or not, I did a quick press before I took the picture. I should have used starch! I'm afraid that I may have to remove the Dresdens from the background fabric. It is thin, flimsy, yellowed and stained. Hubby may like the "antique" look, but I think it will be a nightmare to put the top together.



Summer before last, I co-taught with my friend, Lisa, at our Fabric Floozies group. The members of the group take turns throughout the year teaching various techniques or projects.  You can view Lisa's blog here. Lisa’s  area of expertise (among others) are Quilted Jackets and they are exquisite! Lisa designed all her own projects for the class, while I found projects for the ladies to do off the internet. At the time, a lot of the members had no clue about all the wonderful projects and blogs online. One of my summer projects included the Dresden. I was inspired to make a wall hanging after I saw the online demo from the Missouri Quilt Company. At the monthly North County Quilters Association Guild's White Elephant Table, I found a Easy Dresden Ruler by Darlene Zimmerman. I got it for fifty cents! Not only a bargain, but it made short work preparing the blades below. Can you see the kitty cat?

Mug Rugs were quite the rage that summer. I demo'd another pattern using scraps

 and just for fun, I came up with the one below. 

 

The Dresden is definitely the perfect block in my book.
I prefer hand sewing over machine sewing and as you can see above,
once I got the blades put together, I could hand sew to my heart's delight.
The butterflies came from one of Val Laird's BOM projects. 

Be sure to visit all the other Dare to Dresden Participants!

January 30^th, 2013

Charlotte H @ “that Other Blog”

It Seems to be Sew

Merry Gay in Stitches

Water Penny

Granny Good Stuff

Under the Presser Foot

More Stars in Comanche

Sew Me Something Good

The Day Before This Day

Farm Road

Livin' Blue Quilter

I Piece 2 Mary
Kwilty Pleasures
Espritpatch
Nutz4Redwork

Looking for all the Dresden's from this blog hop?

Go over to Madame Samm's Pinterest page here

You will be so inspired! 

Thanks to Madame Samm at Sew We Quilt for her

time and effort to bring us together to

showcase our projects and talent.

And last, but not least,

 my heartfelt thanks to 

our Cheerleader

Christine

at Quilt Monster In My Closet

All your hard work and time is appreciated!!

And to you, dear reader, thank you for visiting! 

Although it has been a challenge to set up this blog, I am having a blast. It is really giving my mushy old brain a workout.  The San Diego Shop Hop is slated for the beginning of March. I already have my list ready for what I want to purchase. I have a particular fabric design in mind that I am  going to look for and hope to find (or I'll have to resort to Plan B). It will be part of a QAL I am planning later this spring. It will incorporate applique (freezer paper method) and embroidery. Be sure to sign up for the mailing list so you won't miss out on the announcement as to when we will start.

I found this in the same container as the Vintage Dresden blocks, so I am going to have a giveaway. I bought two and have never used this package. It contains 15 Screen-Printed 3-1/2" Quotes. It is recommended that you use a pressing sheet when ironing the quotes.

Please leave a comment and include where you are from 

(City & State and add your Country if you are outside of the United States). 

It will be fun to see where everyone is from. 

For a second chance, sign up for the mailing list and leave another comment to let me know. 

I will announce the winner here on this blog on February 8th.