Dresden Plates

so the lobster dinner last week gave me extra energy and i started cutting a new hand-work project (which doesn't make a lot of sense 'cos Grandma's Pop Garden is far from finished) at 10 p.m. that night.



i've been obsessed by this quilt ever since i saw the cover for the book Material Obsession (great blog too; i'm always inspired by the quilts their customers make)




i've always wanted to make a dresden plate quilt--i like the combination of easy piecing and easy applique--it's always good to have a portable hand-sewing project to take along trips (that Grandma's Garden is getting way too bulky!) but i've never been inspired by the ones i've seen. i do like 1930s palette and 30's fabrics are actually ones i collect--but i didn't want to do a traditional dresden plate. this one however, with the bright colors and the polka dot background and centers, was perfect! (i was just listening to a podcaster who also mentioned this quilt but specifically disliked the background as way too busy :-) that's what makes the quilting world great--we all have different sensibilities)

so in my head, i've been planning out this quilt for the longest time. i have a stash of American Jane fabrics that i've been collecting and i thought it would be perfect for the quilt. it's almost traditional for a dresden plate, but not quite. so i started cutting into a charm packet that night.

this is why you shouldn't start a project at 10:00 p.m.!





looking good ...

oh no!!!! it's all wrong! it actually doesn't look so bad in the picture, but in reality, the colors were all wrong. the AJ palette is on the dusty side, while the polka dot background is a clear white. and why would i choose a traditional coloring when that's exactly what i didn't want? sigh....

a much better background--it's from an older AJ line. well, this will be a cushion cover instead. i plan on making an AJ quilt sooner or later so the fabrics definitely won't be wasted.

here's the colors i'll use instead. lots of Kaffe Fassett and bits of all the "modern" fabrics i've been buying recently. i just pieced one plate today--and it's looking quite glorious. i'll post pix of that soon.