Dresden Plates (the pattern & the plans)

The Dresden plate pattern has been around for ages. It is a classic & traditional design that has been found in quilts for nearly 200 years. There are many variations of this pattern...ones with petals, ones with pointy "blades", ones with small center circles, ones with larger ones, and they can be found with any number of petals or blades too, giving them a much varied look. I am making a simple Dresden plate quilt, intended to showcase large-scale modern-ish prints so I do not want my pieces to be too small. I understand that Accuquilt has a die for cutting a Dresden plate which results in either 20 or 22 petals/blades. I don't have Accuquilt however, so I went to EQ7, where I can design whatever my heart desires. Sadly after I did this, my printer would absolutely not print without buying over $50 in ink cartridges, so I went to the old-fashioned route. This is, afterall, an old-fashioned block, so why not?!

I got a piece or wrapping paper. It's the largest paper I own, and my blocks are 15", which is larger than standard paper. I traced a 12" diameter quilting circle template, and cut it out. I will make my blade template from this. You could make it any size you want. I left a good bit around the Dresden to allow for quilting designs. If you don't have such template, a compass or large dinner plate will work too.
With your circle, fold it in half and then in half again, to mark 4 90-degree quadrants. If you are anal like me, take a protractor and confirm that they are in fact 90 degrees. I hae chosen a bladed Dresden with only 12 blades. Take one of the quadrants and your protractor, and mark 3 30-degree sections. I then square off the rounded end of the section and also shorten the piece where it approaches the center of the circle. We are almost finished. The last thing you need to do is add the 1/4" seam allowance to the sides (and end if you want). Cut this out and trace onto a more substantial piece of cardstock or plastic. Viola, here is your blade pattern.

Sorry, blurry, but you get the idea. Now it is a little tedious from here, but trust me, the sewing part is much faster. Trace and cut out how ever many pieces you need. I do this with 4-5 layers of fabric stacked, using a rotary cutter.

On your sewing machine, fold the piece in half lengthwise, and stitch with 1/4" seam across the end. I do backstitch at the folded end.

Now trim the seam to a scant 1/8". You don't want the bulk within the point.

Turn the piece right side out and press gently with scissors to get it pointy. Press.

Next, choose the arrangement of your 12 blades, and stitch together. I backstitch ~0.5" at the top of the seam so I don't have to worry with loose threads or a seam pulling loose. I then press the seams to one direction (because I will be ditch quilting each blade and this can not be accomplished if pressed open). Then I starch the top. There are many bias edges. The starch helps the plate to hold its shape until it is added to a background fabric.

Missing something?? Yup, the center. This is typically a circle, but since I found this perfect 12-petaled Michael Miller fabric, I couldn't resist. Applique away! I have used a 5-6" center.

I have 5 of my needed 20 plates ready for their background fabric. Please note that after I sew the plates to the background, I highly suggest going back and trimming that "triangle" of excess fabric from each blade point. It has a seam in it and will be very prone to showing through to the top of the Dresden plate when it is quilted. I hate this look :-((

This is my "Walk on the Wild-Side" Dresdens. They are bold and bright, and look so fantastic with the flower centers. Thanks to all for your comments on my quilt layouts. I kind of figured I'd go with this layout all along, but I just needed confirmation that it would be great (rather than going the more traditional route).
Coincidently, this morning I came across another person's blog post about Dresdens. You may find it informational. It is here...

And dont forget about the Quilting Sale...

Have a good Wednesday~

What You Can Do for your Flimsy

You have made this fantastic flimsy and now it is ready to be quilted. The rest is up to the quilter, right? Well, yes generally speaking that is true. But before you get to that point in the quiltmaking process, there are many things that you as the piecer can do to ensure that your quilter has the best possible top to work with (and hence, make you the best possible looking quilt!). Thinking about how it will be quilted as it is designed and made will help.

Fabrics...
My list naturally begins with fabrics. There are a plethora of fabrics to choose from, and a tremendous range of weights/thicknesses of fabrics too. You will find the junkier, stiffer "chain-store" (or Walmart) fabrics, which I'd say as a general rule to just avoid. They'll never be soft and snuggly. When piecing, select what you like, but try to keep them all of a similar weight. The weight of the fabrics (or the fabric sandwich) affects how the quilter will tension his or her machine. If the weight of the sandwich varies, you very well may see a tension change as the stitching passes over lighter and heavier patches. Plus, varying weights of fabric will wear differently.

When piecing with white, buy the absolute best quality white you can rationalize. You can always make slight sacrifices elsewhere, but if you select a thinner, lower grade white, it will be the first thing you will see on the finished quilt. Thin whites show anything underneath them, including rogue threads from neighboring seams. I like the Moda Bella and Kona whites. Still, however, when using a white of any kind, try your best to press all seams AWAY from the white fabric. I would even go so far as to suggest not making quilts that have a lot of white with other deep colors such as red, navy or another deep color. They will show through the top somewhere, and are so very prone to bleeding onto the white.
Thread...
Use a thread that either matches your fabrics or is of similar tone. Lights are usually fine with a white or pale gray. Darker fabrics need a darker thread. Once the quilter gently tensions your top, any white threads will definitely show. Use a lighter weight thread, like a 50 wt. I hate when I see a quilt all pieced with 40wt hand quilting thread. It leaves a most visible line in the seam. Use a reasonably short stitch length too. On my digital machine, I sew with a 1.8. The shorter stitch length does a couple things. If you are not prone to backstitching at the end of a seam, the tighter stitches will not pull out as easily. Also, the tighter stitches will hold the seam nicer when it is tensioned for quilting (less likelihood of seeing those stitches if they are not a perfect thread color match!). I have actually started piecing with my 50wt (60wt in bobbin) polyester longarm quilting thread, but you can find a nice fine thread.

Tension...
The tension of your piecing thread should be properly adjusted so that you don't have those little ticks along the seam. Don't assume that because it is inside of the quilt that it will be just fine. An ill-tensioned seam will pull open and show the threads (often in an unmatched color!) when tensioned. Plus, that seam is much more likely to come open at the ends.

Seam allowances...
We all know about the sacred 1/4" seam, but too many people still have their version of what 1/4" really is. In actuality, it does not really matter if you sew at 3/8" or 5/8" as long as you are consistent throughout your top. Where problems creep in is when there is a 3/8" seam somewhere, some 1/4" seams and that dreaded 1/16th inch. First off, inconsistent seam allowances create non-flat and non-square blocks, that very likely have poor matching of points. Secondly, if there is a very narrow seam allowance, it creates a weak area that may well pull open when the quilter puts the quilt onto the frame. So, just be careful here.

Pressing...
Yea, I mean with an iron. And if you find that a seam flip-flops, then kindly do the noble thing. Rip out a few stitches, move it to the direction it should lay, and restitch. In the end, you will have a much nicer quilt, that will lay flat where it ought to be flat.

Borders...
Any piecing on the outside of the quit top's periphery should be either be backstitched, or have a row of stay stitching across. There's nothing that chaps me more than to load someone's quilt and have the outer border start pulling apart before it is even quilted. This step takes very little time too. Many people need to go back to "Borders 101" and revisit how to add borders of the proper length (see the internet for hints here...but generally speaking, measure quilt at center, and cut border this length, pin and sew on). If you improperly add your borders you run the risk of having borders that will have too much fabric, and will require the quilter to take what can sometimes be an unsightly tuck or tucks in the border (in addition to pulling out her own hair). Some quilters go to the extent of removing a client's borders and restitching them properly (at the client's cost). I don't go this far. Additionally, I commend those of you that do mitered corners on your borders. They are classy. But do check that the corner lays squarely (use a 12"x12" square).
Piecing & Squaring...
If you are piecing blocks, take the time to square them all up before they are sashed. This will help you to make a squarer quilt. This is especially important if you are placing your blocks on point. Somehow the on-point setting distorts small anomalies more. Envision this: Your top is attached to a roller and then pinned to another parallel roller. If it is not square, then it cannot possibly lay smoothely where it is supposed to be quilted. Your quilter will curse a bit, use lots of pins to help make it lay down, etc. It makes the process of quilting much harder, and you run the risk that your finished quilt is not as pretty. One last thing about piecing (only because this eventually affects the squareness of a top) - For those on-point quilts that require setting triangles, keep the outer edges always ON GRAIN! No quilter wants to see a quilt that has bias edges on the outer edges of a quilt.

Flat...
I'm sure you can imagine how hard it would be to quilt a bra and make it look like a square, so keep those blocks and tops flat. Sure, your quilter can quilt anything down, but it won't look like anything you will want to pay for. I saw a recent YouTube video by Sharon Shaumber (may be misspelled) about using spray starch to shrink blocks if they have too much cleavage. Might want to check this out.

Backings...
This list of helpful hints is brief. Keep them on-grain. Keep all selvages out of seams, as they will pucker. Press those seams open. Leave the recommended amount of additional backing fabric that your quilter requests (yes the back must be several inches larger than the top). The back must be square. There are many other personal considerations for backings, but from a technical standpoint, they are of lesser importance. I prefer not to see busy fabrics on the back when a custom quilting is desired. Similarly, I don't care for heavily pieced (aka double-sided) quilts for anything but a simple edge-to-edge quilting. I also like to choose a backing fabric that is mid-toned, or is not one of the really light or really dark tones that are in the top. Again, this is just my preference.

Plan for the quilting...
By this I mean, don't spend $100 on your fabrics, another 20 hours or more making your top, only to cheap out on the quilting. Before the top is quilted, it woud be valued at at least $400 (your time IS worth something, right??!), so expect to pay between $150-250 to quilt it acceptably. Lovely quilting only enhances a carefully made quilt top.

closing comments...
99% of the quilts I receive to quilt for clients are without significant issues that would hinder acceptable quilting. Most, in fact, are really nicely made. There are many less experienced piecers out there though that might benefit from my compilation of things that make quilting for others easier and more successful. These are only my thoughts. I welcome whatever you might like to add too.

I hope you enjoy my sneak peeks of my next quilt.

Piped Binding Tutorial

There are tutorials available for piped binding that are stitched all on the machine (which you all know is against my religion!). Here's one I came across a while ago. It looks nice, and I don't even think it involves cording! The Ricky Tims Grand Finale DVD also gives a good method for doing a piped binding via machine. Both of these methods look nice on the front, but since my quilt is headed to some judged shows, I really wanted to have a finished product that has as clean a backside as it does the frontside. I dislike when bindings are machine stitched down because they almost never look perfect on the back. My tutorial is not rocket science, but it did yield a nice finished binding on both sides. I'll warn you, though, my method does require hand stitching the binding to the back of the quilt (as you'd normally do), but to me that yields a prettier binding on the backside.

Here's what you need...

1. Some piping (equal to the perimeter of your quilt plus 4-6"). This is harder to find than you might think. I used to buy micropiping at Joann's for when I make pretty smocked dresses, but was not able to find it. I ordered this from here. It is a perfect size. At 25 cents per yard, how can you go wrong. I have also heard you can use a thicker pearle cotton, though I have not tested this.
2. A cording foot. There are different types of these, but this is what I have and it works well.

Cut the fabric that will cover the micro-cording 1.5" wide, and as long as the piping was cut to. Be sure to piece the sections together with a 45 degree bias cut, or else you will have too much bulk. Then press this in half. The micro-piping will slip neatly into the crease.

Put a matching thread on top and bottom OR a water soluable thread (only if you plan to wash your quilt). Using your cording foot, stitch to the edge of the cording. I usually also secure the top end of the cording before I stitch so it cannot pull out.

After you are done, you will very carefully need to trim the cording by placing your cutting ruler's 0.25" line on top of the seam, and rotary cutting off the excess. This takes a few minutes, but is necessary.

Here's what you'll have a few minutes later. Unfortunately, you cannot start with piping the correct width because this is just too narrow to manupilate with the sewing machine and the cording foot. Susan Cleveland has a nifty piping cutting ruler that actually has a slot for the piping to ride into. But I am cheap, and opted to save my $$ for some other gadget. Everyone is trying to sell us something.

Now, go to your regular sewing foot. Stitch the piping to the quilt's edge (Presumably you have already blocked your quilt at this point). The seam allowance may be set to 1/4" or you can just sew directly on top of the existing seam on the piping. Notice what I do at the corners. As I finish one seam, I back stitch a couple stitches. I then gently pull on the cording. I want to pull out about 1/4" of the cording to relieve the amount of bulk in the binding's corner. Do this on both ends. The next side of piping is started right at the end of the quilt (ie, do not do a folded corner as you'd do with your binding - the cording is stitched in 4 separate pieces). It is a little easier to remove the excess cording before you stitch the piping down.

Next you need to cut your binding however you like. My binding is prepared on bias but either way will work fine. Again, make sure your binding strips are pieced together with 45 degree bias seams to reduce bulk. Listen carefully here. I cut my binding my usual 2-1/4" wide, pressed it in half, etc. Hindsight is 20-20. When I do this piped binding again, I will likely use 2-3/8" instead. Bear in mind that my quilt was quilted with 2 layers of batting, and is thicker than some. But mostly, with the piping, there is more bulk for the binding to have to go around. I did make my binding work with it 2-1/4", but it is a snug binding, and was not always pleasing to stitch it while it wanted to pop open.

So, the last step is pretty much life as usual in terms of sewing on a binding. The only catch is that you have to be slow and careful, and plan to have to have areas that you go back and adjust to make the piping look pretty. Start midway along one side of your quilt. I set my seam to a little wider than 1/4" so that it covers the piping seam. On my machine, 1/4" is a setting of 5.3 and for the binding I used 4.7. It might be at most 1/16" inboard of the seam. It is enough that the threadline on the piping is concealed, and nothing but the tight little bump of the piping is visible. I do not pin my binding because there is enough bulk. I just stitch slowly and carefully. When you reach the corner, do as you usually do to get around the corner when applying continuous binding.... You are now all the way around your quilt, and the binding is sewn down to the top completely. Now take a careful look and see if there are any places that you need to go back and stitch closer to the piping or adjust. I won't lie, I spent nearly 3 hours putting the binding on (not the hand stitching!) this 75" square quilt. It will take some time.

But the finished product will forever change how you do bindings. I promise. The above picture is before the binding is actually stitched to the back side. At this point, check and see how easily your binding is going to wrap the quilt's edge and comer the lines of stitching. If it looks close or that the binding will be very tight, then trim 1/16" or so off of the edge of the quilt, uniformly all the way around all 4 sides. Your binding should be "filled" but not so tight it takes jumbo clamps to hold it down in order to stitch.

Here's my finished binding. I totally love the effect of the piping. For show quilts, this is a very classy edge, and it most definitely will help it to hang more straightly. For any quilt, it is just a lovely way to infuse one more design detail into the finished quilt.

Now, the quilt only needs a sleeve (ahh...150" more hand stitching!) and it is good to go!