Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Dresden Plate Wall-hanging


Some of you may remember that in May of this year, P. from The Way I Sew It, gave me the beautiful Dresden Plate that is now centered in the middle of this medallion wall-hanging top. I was pretty excited about receiving it and blogged about it here. On July the 4th, I finally came up with a plan to showcase the Dresden in a wall-hanging.  I am pleased to say that while it took me about 6 weeks to mull over how best to show off its beauty, the execution of the plan took less than a month.  That's a record for me!  (Hanging out with all you quilty bloggers has made me more organized.) True, it still needs to be quilted, but I am going to wait to do that until I've honed my free motion machine quilting skills just a bit more--or decide to hand-quilt it.

I used a textured black for the main body of the wallhanging. (If you click to make the pictures larger, the texture is more apparent.) The entire wall-hanging measures 24".  I debated about making it larger, but I wanted the borders to complement the Dresden Plate; not overwhelm it.  So I stopped at just two borders.  The inner pink-lavender border (Kona calls the color "Petunia") is only a 1/2 inch wide.  I'll admit that making the border so narrow gave me pause.  Instead of rotary cutting it as I ordinarily would for a wider border, I drew it out with pencil on the fabric and cut it out with scissors.


In order to sew accurately, I marked my 1/4 inch seam lines as well.  I was pleased with the result.


Finally, I added the ribbon border.  The instructions are from Quilter's Cache.  (She has lots of other border ideas on the site as well.)


The very last step was to hand-applique the Dresden to the wall-hanging.

I'll be linking up at one or more of the Friday Linky Parties shown in my sidebar.  There are always talented people sharing their latest creations at these Linky Parties, so be sure to check them out. You won't be disappointed!

26 comments:

  1. That's a spectacular setting for P's beautiful dresden plate! You've done a great job and I'm sure it will be even more beautiful after you finish quilting it!

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  2. The wall hanging is beautiful and a perfect compliment to the Dresden plate. I love the ribbon border. Well Done.

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  3. Michelle, I think you hit on just the right setting for that Dresden Plate! It looks like you planned it from beginning to end. :)

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  4. Michelle,

    This is ABSOLUTELY stunning!

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  5. It couldn't have been better! The black background is just perfect for the dresden plate, and the border makes it even more stunning! Great job, Michelle! You have to be proud of this one! :)

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  6. WOW! That looks fantastic. Job well done!

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  7. Beautiful! I love the black and how it brings out the colors of the dresden plate and the border.

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  8. I'll just echo what others have said and tell you this is perfect. Black frames this beautiful work of art in a way no other colour would have.

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  9. Wow, Michelle, it looks fantastic! The black background and beautiful ribbon border really make it pop. I'm sure you will do some stunning quilting on it eventually as well. Amazing what you've done with that one little Dresden! Hm...what else can I send you? :)

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  10. This is very impressive....Just love it! I love this pattern, but do not feel confident with my ability to actually make a decent one! Great job!

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  11. Beautiful job! I love what you did with it! The borders accent it just perfectly! Very nice indeed.

    I love The Quilter's Cache. I get lots of inspiration there.

    xo -E

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  12. What an interesting border! I will have to give that a try - so striking! Thanks for sharing!

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  13. That is just gorgeous! What a perfect border! I love this. Thanks so much for linking up to Finished for Friday.

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  14. Love the ribbon border. Beautiful!

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  15. Great way to set that medallion! I agree with that the blogging world is a great!!!!! motivator!

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  16. Hi ,thanks for linking to lush friday. I love the black background. It really compliments the colours you used.I bet it looks fantasic in reality.I would love to learn how to do patchwork like you do. Andrea

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  17. I like your choice of border. It's perfect for that dresden plate!

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  18. this is beautiful. i love how well the black sets it off

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  19. This is a beautiful setting for the dresden plate -- really showcases it beautifully!

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  20. Gosh, it's gorgeous! Thanks for showing all the steps. I wondered how you put it all together. Thanks for sharing. Happy Sewing! :o)

    www.seamsinspired.com

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  21. Yes, gorgeous! I adore your border!!!!

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  22. wow...that looks gorgeous...

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  23. I am so glad! It looks so pretty!

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Your comments brighten my day. :-)