I have Dresden Fever

Over the summer I was lucky enough to take a quilt class for Susan Cleveland.  The class I took was one of those things that I signed up for, just cause it was something new, but I probably wouldn't like it much.  Welllllll !!!!!!   I came home totally inspired.  I changed my thinking of a dresden being a traditional pattern, but instead something that could be played with to make something different.  I finished up the class project and it turned out beautiful, better than I had ever expected.

Read about it here

But my design mind just wouldn't leave me alone.  I started looking at any dresden block I could find.  I knew I had to  make more.  So during my search I came across this.

It is an original pattern by Brenda Sutter and she happens to be in a facebook quilting group I belong to.  She mentioned that she was going to make a pattern.  So low and behold I bought her pattern at Craftsy.  



The pattern used templates, and not the method I had became familiar with.   So I took her measurements and adapted it,  My version does not have as many plates as hers does, but I do prefer Susan Cleveland's method.  Now this is a total learning lesson. These are my samples to learn more about the dresden.  I learned how changing the position of the ruler changes the center.  If you move it up the ruler you get a larger center hole.  I did not double point my plates, as I think the center needs to have a circle to look like a snowflake.  I made one to look like a snowflake, and one a bit Christmassy!!

I decided to quilt these pieces very plainly.  I went around the center and then out the plates.  I think the linear quilting adds to the dresden. 

 

But that is not the end of the story.  As I was working away on this I decided that a 3/4 dresden would look super cool.  But if you had that you would need something else to fill the negative space.  Well what about a full dresden that was half size??  And then after that was decided, it left a gaping hole on the top.  Well here is what I drempt up.  I emailed Susan Cleveland and got her opinion and here it is. 

 

I am totally tickled with how it turned out.  I am going to write up the pattern and call it a class!  

Until the next stitch!!