Machine Quilting: Purple Dresdens

Nancy also brought me this wonderful Dresden Plate quilt to work on. My instructions were to do whatever - I LOVE it when my instructions are to "do whatever". Especially when what I'm given to work on is a virtual quilter's playground!!!

 Isn't this quilt just gorgeous?! I knew I wanted to quilt a background filler behind the dresdens and then quilt a different design to highlight each plate. A quilt like this deserves a bit more effort than just a simple all over design...

 What I ended up choosing to do was fill the background with pebbles/bubbles. It was the best design to work in and around the points and fill the odd shaped areas. Then I just did a simple pointed loop in each fabric within the plates. Sometimes I would choose a swirl instead for the background, but for this quilt some of the areas were really small that needed to be filled and even with my best quilting, it may look awkward in spots. So bubbles for the win!

I did then switch to a darker thread (I was only using an off-white to this point) and filled the border with straight lines. There's a large floral design in the border fabric and I didn't want to take away from it at all, but I had to tack down the large border. These straight lines have been the answer lately for busy borders like this one.

I like the fact that even though I didn't quilt a single straight line within the center of the quilt, the lines don't feel like a new quilting element. It just finishes off the quilt top and takes a backseat to the rest of the quilt which is where your eyes want to wander anyway.

 The colors and fabrics in this quilt were so interesting and fun to work through.

 I LOVE how this quilt turned out and I may need to make myself a dresden in the future... It's on my quilting bucket list.

Here's how the back of the quilt turned out. You can still see each dresden and each loop without knowing what the front looks like. This quilt could even be used as both a wholecloth (if you display the back) or a regular quilt.

Thank you, Nancy!!! I love working with her scrappy quilts and drooling over her fabric choices! Scrappy quilts are so much fun to quilt and seem to go faster because with each time I advance the section I'm working on, I get to see new fabrics and it keeps the process exciting and new.