#21 Dresden Plate

#21: Dresden Plate
Finished: 5/27/12
Techniques: Dresden Plate design, Stitch in the ditch, Blanket stitch, Applique, Satin stitch
Size: 15 1/2" x 15 1/2"

Description:
A traditional mini-quilt this week. The Dresden Plate design is one that I haven't tried before, but I found it pretty easy to do. The "blades" of the plate are from different floral calico prints I have. There are 20 blades, each a different print. I used a template found in a book on Dresden Plate designs - it's more or less a trapezoidal shape. Making the peaks in the blades was easy - simply fold the blade in half and sew across the top. Once you turn the fabric to the right side, the peak forms automatically. Dresden Plate designs don't have to have peaks; you can make the blades with flat tops or rounded curved tops too, but I like the peaked look. And besides, those other tops require turning the fabric under, whereas the peaks are turned under automatically because of the way they are stitched.

Once all 20 blades are sewn together, you lay the whole thing on background fabric and applique into place. I then cut out a circle of the background fabric and satin stitched to the center of the plate. I stitched in the ditch around each blade, and used a blanket stitch in yellow around the outer edge of the plate. I was amazed that the 20 blades came together into the circle shape and laid flat onto the background. I was sure there would be too much or too little fabric somewhere so that it wouldn't lay flat. I would imagine that a very accurate 1/4" seam would be quite important as would accurate cutting of the blades. I must have done all right, because it lay beautifully onto the background.

Choosing the background was tricky, because I didn't want a solid fabric, but did want the blades to show well. The fabric I chose was a bit unconventional - it was a pale pink geometric print and it's a polyester! It was a bit heavier that the cottons I normally use for quilting, but the hue and design were just right, so why not?

I can see making a whole quilt with this design, with maybe some sashing pieces between blocks. It would make a great scrappy quilt.

#20 Shadows of the Southwest

#20: Shadows of the Southwest
Finished: 5/19/12
Techniques: Shadow Effect, Wobble Stitch
Size: 27" x 23"

Description: I've wanted to see if I could create shadow effects with fabric. It's not a new technique - other people have done it - but it's a new technique for me. Using black for the shadow and piecing it off center makes the other fabric pieces seem to "float" above the background. It turned out pretty well! I didn't think about it before finishing the quilt, but I should have tried different widths of black to see if that made any difference. As it is, I used 1" finished sized shadows and it looks good, but I wonder what 1/2" or 3/4" would have looked like.

In choosing fabrics for the blocks, I knew it had to be medium to large print designs. Looking through my stash, I saw that I had several that represented the Southwest in some way. I had many more than the five chosen here, but several other prints had black backgrounds themselves. I felt that the shadow effect wouldn't show to advantage with those, so I opted for the ones with off-white backgrounds. I've got lizards, pots, chilis, cactus, and canoes. Also, I started out with 5 blocks all the same size, but the one in the center seemed to get lost among the background fabric, so I re-did the chili one, making a longer rectangle. It's much better. (I also have a lot of different chili fabric, but didn't want to do all chilis here. Watch for something in the future!)

I used a simple green polka dot fabric for the background. It coordinated pretty well with all the prints.

I quilted a simple outline around the blocks, and then used a wobble stitch in yellow to simulate rays of the sun creating those shadows.

This fabric is the one I used to back the mini-quilt. Wild horses also remind me of the Southwest, but the print was rather large and this particular color scheme didn't really go with the other. It makes a nice backing though.

#19 Translucence

#19: Translucence
Finished: 5/12/12
Techniques: Creating a translucent effect using only fabric, satin stitching.
Size: 16" x 16"

Description: Wow! This looks even better as a picture than it does in real life! It really appears that the rectangles are made with sheer or translucent materials so the you can see the other rectangles underneath them. But no! It's all done with different colored fabrics instead! I have an abundance of solid fabrics of various colors. I mixed and matched to find the right combinations for overlapping rectangles. For instance, where the dark blue and pink rectangles intersect, I chose a purple fabric to simulate the translucence. Where the light blue and yellow rectangles intersect, I chose a light green. For the dark green and pink intersection, I chose a brown. Knowing a little about color theory helps. We all know that yellow and blue make green, and red and yellow make orange, but it's a little trickier with the secondary colors. I am very pleased with the effects overall.

After doing the piecing, I decided to help the effect a little by satin stitching around the rectangles to indicate which of them were laying "on top" of the others. No satin stitching on the underneath portions.

The inspiration for tackling this technique was a quilt I saw at the recent Denver National Quilt Festival, where one of the quilters used this translucent technique to good use.

#18 Canyon Memories

#18: Canyon Memories
Finished: 5/7/12
Techniques: Strip Piecing, Free-motion quilting, satin stitching
Size: 26 1/2" x 19 1/2"

Description: When I was on vacation the week before last, I took a day trip up to the Grand Canyon. When I lived in Flagstaff years ago, I used to go there often, as it was only about an hour and a half away.  I always enjoy my trips there; it's such an amazing place. So I decided to commemorate the visit in a mini-quilt. This one was a simple one and quick to put together. Given more time, I would have liked to have done more with it. It needs something, but I'm not sure what. I like the canyon parts itself, but the sky didn't turn out as well as I'd like.

I did free-motion quilting on the sky pieces, and satin stitching and straight stitching on the canyon pieces.

#17 Strange Flowers

#17: Strange Flowers
Finished: 4/29/12
Techniques: Hand Embroidery, 3-D, Curved Piecing, Creative Use of Zippers, Yo-yo's, Buttons
Size:12 1/2" x 14 1/2"

Description: So if I'm going to finish one mini-quilt per week, what do I do when I'm out of town on vacation? I don't usually do hand sewing, but in this instance it was appropriate. I just packed the supplies I needed and because it's mini, it's portable!

Actually, I did do some machine sewing before leaving, piecing the background, adding a simple quilting grid using a wobble stitch, and attaching the binding on the front, but the rest was done by hand. The stems of the flowers are zippers, which I've seen done before and thought it was clever. The flower heads are "yo-yo's" created by cutting out a circle of fabric, turning under 1/4" on the edge, hand sewing a loose running stitch around the edge and pulling it tight. The result is a circle approximately half the size of the original circle, with folds creating a three-dimensional effect. One of a kind buttons from my stash sewed on as centers.

The hand embroidery added a little flavor to the overall design. I used a running stitch on the stems, a blanket stitch around the yo-yo's, a lazy daisy stitch for individual flowers on the ground, and a stem stitch to create the leaves. I think more embroidery stitches would have added to the design, but I ran out of time.