One Hundred Small Quilts #2
My trunk show “One Hundred Small Quilts” is popular with quilt groups. I’ve been giving it for six years and have added to the collection. I actually bring about 120 quilts with me. The quilts have lessons to teach us. This is Dresden Delight.
Dresden Delight by Diane Harris. Photo by Mellisa Karlin Mahoney. Used with permission.
Dresden Delight appeared in Quiltmaker Nov/Dec ’12. What can you learn by observing it?
• Vary the background fabrics for interest. Do you see how two different background fabrics were used for the baskets? They’re not radically different, but they contrast enough to create a spark.
• Adopt a casual approach. Look at the rickrack handles. Each one’s placement is slightly different. I didn’t intend for this to happen, but now I like it because it adds something unique to the quilt.
• Use many fabrics for the setting patches. Each green corner is different. They’re similar enough to be cohesive but different enough to be interesting. Whenever you have a set of something like eight setting triangles, or four borders, or 12 cornerstones, that’s an opportunity to use a different fabric for each one. Keep the fabrics fairly close in value (lightness or darkness) but go for variety in the prints, the scale (size of the motifs) and the texture.
The fabrics above include a large-scale print, a stripe, a polka dot, straight lines, and curves. All of these variations add interest.
• Do something different. This quilt qualifies in a couple of ways.
1. The rickrack is obviously different from the average quilt. Not only does it serve for basket handles, it creates a type of border around the quilt’s edges.
2. This quilt has a facing rather than a binding. I wrote instructions for facing a quilt and called it “Let’s Face It.” It’s a great trick to have in your tool chest.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little lesson based on Dresden Delight.
See my very casually produced video on how to make a Dresden Plate on YouTube. It’s had more than 125,000 views.
Tags: basket blocks, Dresden plate, facing a quilt, quilting 101, quilting lessons, rickrack, scrap quilts, stash sewing
Diane Paul
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I love your idea of using different setting triangles. So many times I don’t have enough fabric to do this on a quilt. This is a perfect solution.
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Diane Harris
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I think that being short of fabric was what prompted me to try this, and I loved the results! I’ll be anxious to see where you take this idea, Diane!