Leaving for retreat!

I'm just about packed! I've got some last minute things to do, but I'll be leaving in about an hour so I wanted to make one more post before I go.

A customer just left from picking up her quilt, and the story behind this quilt is kind of neat!

Carol was given 15 of these dresden plate blocks from the 1930's. (I believe they had belonged to the great-aunt of the person that gave them to her, they had been passed down.) Some of them were completed, some of them still had the button hole stitch to be done on them, and some of them were in partial assembly. She finished what she could, but she was in dire need of ideas on what to do with 15 blocks! Certain settings just wouldn't work and she wanted something that would really be accurate for the time period.

One day while she was bringing me another quilt to quilt for her, she brought her blocks, explained the situation, and I knew I had just the answer! I had a collection of authentic (not repros) 30's fabrics that she could use to make ONE MORE BLOCK and then set them the traditional way she wanted. We were even able to match that solid orangey red for the center of the block! She found the perfect sashing fabric, and then tied it all together clear to the edge by bordering it with muslin that matched the blocks. It turned out just wonderful! I quilted feather sprays in the corners of the blocks, surrounded by tiny stippling to really bring them out. The plate blades are outline quilted, with another feather flower quilted in the red centers of the block.

I'm usually not in love with 30's prints and 30's quilts...but this one has maverick issues! Not all the blocks have the same number of blades! they are different widths, some fat, and some skinnier, I think they fudged with them to get them flat enough to lie down instead of being volcanoes..*LOL* The plates are NOT centered in the blocks, and they are all rotated a bit different which made putting the feather plumes in the corners of the blocks a bit of a challenge. Each feather plume is a bit different too, because I was just quilting to fill up the space. And I like it! It gives the ey e something different to look at and the dresden plates (which is not one of my fave patterns either...repetition wise) seem to be spinning and doing their own thing with their own personalities. the centers of the plates are not completely round! some are egg shaped. It was all these wonderful inconsistencies that made this a fun quilt to quilt on!

Not to mention that I LOVE the look of quilting on plain muslin (and the solid red for that matter) Nothing is as timeless as that.it shows the quilting SO well! little white on white prints that are out now just don't have that same look or feel. I don't know why they are so popular with quilters! Give me plain old muslin any day, it is wonderful to quilt and fits the quilting 'genre' that I like most! (and second comes shirtings if it has to be a print at all :c)

Have a great weekend everyone! I'll be back on monday!

Bonnie