Getting back on the “repetitive horse”

I just read Amy’s blogpost about “the one trick pony” versus the “repetitive horse” and thought it was timely given the mind numbing, painstaking piecing I’ve been doing this week. I’m really not a fan of repetition, I love the challenge of finishing a tricky block and admiring it before moving on to the next one.

That’s why I love a good sampler quilt, with lots of different techniques and proportions. That’s probably what attracts so many of us to the Dear Jane, Farmer’s Wife and Nearly Insane quilts.

But a good pattern repeated over and over has it’s own beauty. The background photo on this blog is a good example. Making 49 Orange Peel blocks in black and white is really an exercise in pinning and pressing and then adding another finished block to the design wall. Yet the finished quilt looked so gorgeous hung up in my sewing room I really didn’t want to give it away! This has been my story as a quilter… making beautiful things and sending them off into the world to be loved.

But as I mentioned earlier, I’m trying to get into the Zen of repetitive piecing this week. I have quite pile of fabrics in front of me to get through…

What on earth am I making with these 1936 rectangles?

Four hundred and eighty four 2 1/2” little cross blocks. Phew, I’m tired just thinking about it. I briefly entertained the thought of quick piecing them, sewing up long strips and then cross cutting them but you don’t get much variety that way. I think the real beauty in these little blocks is how each one is different, with it’s own character and flaws...

It should be relaxing really, like meditation. I’ll let you know how it goes

Week Three, Dresden Plate

Dresden Plate Template
This quilt block is a combination of patchwork and appliqué. It is a very striking block which is easy to make using this shortcut method.

You will need:

14” square of your background fabric
4.5"” x 10” strip of each of your other 4 fabrics for the petals
Sewing needle
Thread to combine with your fabrics
Pins
Pencil, manicure stick or knitting needle to poke out the point!

Using the template cut 4 tumbler shapes of each fabric. Trace template onto fabric and cut shapes out. You can flip the template along your piece of fabric to make the best use of it.

You can draw up your own template by drawing an angle of 22.5 degrees. Continue the lines up till you have a tall wedge. Cut the point off so that this bottom edge is around 1" wide. You want a template that's 4.5" tall through the centre of the template.

(Boring maths bit: a circle is 360 degrees so to get 16 petals we divided that by 16 = 22.5 degress. If you would like a 20 petal Dresden Plate you would divide 360 by 20 = 18 degrees)

1. Lay out your petals in a pleasing arrangement
2. Fold petals in half, right sides together, lengthwise.
3. Stitch across the top, leaving a ¼” seam
4. Press the tip into a triangle and the seam flat
5. Turn the point so the seam is inside and it forms a neat triangle point, use a pencil or knitting needle
6. Lay the petals out again in order
7. Sew into pairs, pinning them together so they don't get muddled
8. Sew the pairs into fours and the fours into eights
9. Finally sew the two halves into a whole circle
10. Press well
11. Fold your 14” square into quarters and finger press the seams to mark the centre
12. Open up the background and lay the flower on top, turn it to find the best position but keep it centred
13. Pin into place
14. With combining thread, appliqué the petals onto the background fabric
15. Finally, create a cardboard or template plastic circle big enough to cover your opening by at least ½”
16. Cut a piece of fabric at least ½” bigger and tack around the outside, leave a thread tail
17. Pull the thread to draw up the circle neatly around the template
18. Starch and press, remove the circle template from the pressed fabric
19. Appliqué the circle onto your flower to cover the hole.
20. Admire your beautiful block and give yourself a pat on the back!