Dresden Plate Blog-hop

The Dresden Quilt block is a classic and versatile design in the quilting world. It is known for its distinctive, petal-like shapes. These shapes radiate from a central point. This block originated in the early 20th century. It is named after the city of Dresden in Germany, where it was first popularized. 

Our Island Batik Challenge for November 2024 was to create a lap-sized or larger quilt. We had to use our assigned Summer 2024 fabric collection.   This was the “Surprise” package that we received in our July Unboxing Video.

The fabric line that I received was Butterfly Haven. It is a signature collection by Jerry Khiev for Jennifer Thomas of  Curlicue Creations.

I received a half yard of all 20 fabrics in the collection, along with 2 coordinating light/dark fabrics.

This fabric is so pretty. I wanted to really showcase the fabric. So, I used Island Batik Black fabric to offset the colors.

I decided to use a design by Missouri Star Quilt Co. I used their Dresden Ruler to cut out the pieces. The nice thing about this ruler is that you can use to from small to 10 piece of fabric. I cut my fabric into 5″ strips, and then cut the Dresden pieces.

I cut out all the Dresden’s I needed for my design. Then, I folded each in half. After folding, I sewed a 1/4″ seam along the end.

I turned the fabric and then used my Oliso Iron. (I did trim the inside corner to reduce bulk.)

You need to make sure that your point is centered so all the pieces are the same. You can do this by matching the seam to the center of the fabric. When you folded the fabric to sew, it may have left a little fold mark that you can match.

I created all of the Dresden’s needed for this quilt at the same time. I then sorted them into groups of 5.

I sewed the sets of 5 pieces together. Make sure to press the pieces to get flat, but be careful to not stretch the fabric as you press.

I used my background fabric to create squares. You can increase or decrease the square’s size to add or remove the background area. Each square should have a set of 5 Dresden’s pieces together. This kept me from having any “Y” seams.

You will need to sew down the Dresden’s along the points by sewing the top in square sections. Use a matching fabric, and stitch close to the edge. I used some Aurifil thread that I had in my collection.

To keep the fabric where i wanted it, I used some washable fabric glue. I put a few drops along the edges.

Then using my Oliso iron, I pressed the fabric to dry the glue.

I sewed all the blocks together. Then I laid them out on my design wall to get the look I wanted. This allowed me to move colors around to get the look I liked.

I added circles and half-circles to the centers of the Dresden’s. To reduce bulk, I avoided adding to each square. Instead, I added either a half-circle or a circle, depending on how many pieces were together.

Here are two squares from the top row with a half-circle. I used interfacing to turn the circles. This allowed me to get a clean edge. Then I stitched along the outside edges with matching thread.

Here is part of the center sewn together.

Once my top was done, I added a 2″ border of some of the light Butterfly fabric. Then, I added a 4″ dark coordinating fabric border. I used the light Butterfly fabric to bind the quilt as well.

I used Hobbs Poly-Down Batting for the quilt. Hobbs Poly-Down Batting is made with very fine, white, denier polyester. This composition enables the batting to give a soft feel and lovely drape.

I quilted the top with Aurifil Thread. I Used a pantograph that I received free as part of Quilting Pantographs rewards program, called “Butterfly Leaves“.

It is fall. We were taking pictures of the dogs. I thought it would be fun to add the quilt! Here is my completed Quilt finished at 60″ x 76″.

If you liked my design with this fabric, make sure to check out Maryellen McAuliffe. Visit her at Mary Mack Made Mine to see what she did with the Butterfly Haven fabric.

There will be more quilts by Jennifer Thomas in Butterfly Haven Blog hop in early December!

Make sure to check the other Island Batik Ambassador’s Quilts with their collection of fabric in this Blog Hop! The dates their blogs are posted are listed next to their name.

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs November 13
Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting November 19
Megan Best ~ BestQuilter November 7
Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts November 5
Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts Studio November 18

Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany November 19
Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts November 18
Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts November 6
Jane Hauprich ~ Stitch by Stitch Custom Quilting November 12
Kim Jamieson-Hirst ~ Chatterbox Quilts November 12

Victoria Johnson ~ Forever Quilting for You November 25
Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs November 7
Connie Kresin Campbell ~ Freemotion by the River November 5
Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood November 21
Denise Looney ~ A Quiltery November 13

Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights November 20
Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine – November 4th
Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion – November 4th
Sarah Pitcher ~ Pitcher’s Boutique November 20
Lana Russel ~ Lana Quilts November 12

Julia Schweri ~ Inflorescence Designs November 12
Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail November 6
Carol Stanek ~ Stitch with Color November 21
Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels November 25
Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations November 12
Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt November 20

#islandbatikambassador, #islandbatik, #iloveislandbatik, #aurifil, #aurifilthread, #iloveislandbatik, #islandbatik, #butterflyhaven, #hobbsinside, #hobbsbatting