April 10, 2011

Blue Dresden Quilt ~ Stitched Up ~

Blue Dresden Plate Quilt Top
Today, I got up and first things first set about sewing together the Blue Dresden Plate Quilt. Oh yes that's what I said. I finished up the remade block two days ago and it was time. As I sewed together each row I was reminded why so many other steer away from a large quilt. Funny, until today I was thinking this was just normal sized compared to some quilts I've made. But now I know, Appliqué adds weight.

Wow, What a Big Quilt! At least that's what went through my mind after I hung it up for you to see. What was your first thought? My second thought was okay now I need to figure out the border!  

Dresden Plate Border Concept 2
While I was cutting the black triangles that turn the entire quilt on point I cut one... okay three wrong. But I keep working because that's all you can do, short of stopping and having a cry and who knows if it's worth crying over until everything on hand is dealt with. Now I owe a world of thanks that the fabric store I ordered from makes me order fabrics by half yard increments, so I had enough extra to squeeze by. Not enough for that crazy pieced border I showed you the other week, but quilters thrive on accidents, because we either dream up another way or we grab the credit card.

So here's what I'm thinking.  The lightest blue from the Dresden Plates making up a tiny folded border. Then the blue lightning bolt fabric also from the Dresden Plates (painstakingly saved from myself mind you) with tiny snow ball blocks and then binding the entire quilt with another blue from the Plates.
Blue Border Fabrics Demo
Here's my demo of the involved fabrics. These would be a case of cutting strips and going from there. The bottom most one that resembles crackle is the one I'm considering for the binding. I'd say I'm 90% firm on everything, except that last print for the binding. What do you think?

5 comments:

Vicki said...

I love how your Dresden plate quilt top turned out. I like the choices that you have made for the border and I'm kind of thinking the same thing as you, I'm not sure about the fabric for the binding. Do you have a darker or richer blue to try as the binding or do you have any of the onyx black swirl left to try. Just a thought.

QuiltSue said...

That is an awesome quilt. How big will it be when you get it bordered?

For the binding, my preference is always to use the darkest colour that I've used in the quilt, so in this case I'd go for the onyx, but that's just one of my little oddities.

Craft-a-Boo said...

Simply stunning! And you're right, quilters do thrive on mistakes...it's what we make those mistakes into that we sit back and say "I meant to do that all along!"

Great Job!

stitchinpenny said...

I have no idea, but I do know that you have a good sense of what you want this quilt to represent so trust your feelings. I proved to myself that I don't see quilts well in my mind's eye, but you rarely seem to have surprises so you do imagine the final product well.

Heather Landry said...

I think it's going to look fantastic Liz! I like the binding choices you suggested! I can't wait to see it finished and assembled.