Dresden Plates, a modern take

Of all the crafts I do (most of which I write about over on my other blog), the one thing I do that is just for myself and my own enjoyment is quilting.  I don't have to please anyone but me with my quilts, and this is a joy that I have lost hold of in the last few years.  This fall, I connected with a new friend who is an avid quilter and rediscovered the joy of creating something just for the joy of it.  Making something to please myself, exploring my own sense of color, design and texture without a care for anyone's approval is deeply satisfying.

One of things I really enjoy about quilting in particular is the blend of very old, traditional patterns with new, modern sensibilities.  Exploring that idea, I came up with this take on the traditional Dresden Plate quilt.  Using scrapes of fabric left over from a range of projects, I made a series of Dresden Plates and arranged them asymmetrically to give the feeling that they were slipping off the quilt.  I had a lot of fun working out the quilting pattern itself, following the lines produced by the plates themselves, and interlacing them where the plate rays overlapped.

I am very pleased with the results.  The quilt is pretty, and with a nice flannel back it's a warm, snugly blanket to curl up under on cold afternoons with a book and a cup of tea.

Design wise, this is the most complex quilt I have done to date.  Making the plates was not difficult, but required more precision than any of my other quilts, and I also had to applique them in plate which I had not done before.  None of this was difficult but it was advanced than anything else I've done so far.  I am particularly happy about having used up so many scrapes, both for the plates and for the binding.