Thursday 8 October 2015

Blueberry Fans Quilt



I've been dreaming about Dresdens for a while now. I've been looking them up on Pinterest, searching hashtags on Instagram. When I feel inspired to try something new, I usually mull over it for a few months, seeing if something captures my attention. I wait for an idea to jump into my head, then I start cutting.
With this quilt, however, I felt like I was 'cutting blind'. There are lots of Dresden quilts out there. But none that I could find that made me go, "Yes!" Many were made with 1930s fabrics, which I can admire, but aren't really me. There were Dresdens with borders, with white centres, with extra rounds. Extra large Dresdens, extra small ones, and even cat Dresdens. Maybe I just needed to dive in with my favourite prints, and see where it led?


Then Karen Lewis announced her debut line, "Blueberry Park" with Robert Kaufman, and I knew I had the perfect match. They were the perfect mix of basics, happy and not too busy, so that my blades could be colourful, and distinct from the one next to them. I emailed Karen and asked her if she'd send me some prints and she agreed! When she sent me a 5" charm pack of all 75 prints, I remembered that in my search, I'd come across a tutorial for cutting Dresden blades from charm squares. I can't recommend this method enough! It's a great way to use almost an entire 5" square. I quickly hopped online and bought a Dresden ruler.

I decided to make quarter circles first, just to play with the design before I sewed them into circles, and I'm so glad I did. It gave me room to play with different colour backgrounds for each fan, rather than in big blocks behind a whole circle. I like that it makes it feel a little more 'flitty'. It's happy, optimistic, joyful. Like butterflies but not too much.



For the black circles, I found a soup mug in my cupboard that made them to exactly the right size including a 1/4" seam allowance. After I had appliqued all the fans onto background squares, I made up a bunch of black 1/4 circles, and a template out of heavy card, to press the edges over. I've long been a fan of Roxanne's glue baste. But living an hour away from a quilt shop had me making do when I ran out. Glue stick worked a charm! And I'm using it for everything these days!


It sat on my design wall for about a week while I decided how to quilt it. Putting the final blocks together is always my sticking point. But as soon as I've decided on the backing (Mobius Stip by Jeni Baker) and quilting, I get a burst of energy again, and hook in till the finish. I went with close, straight lines. I had all kinds of ideas about making the fans jump out, but my quilting just isn't up to it. This made sure everything was stuck down tight, and gave me a more controlled 'crinkle' after washing. It was the perfect choice, I think. Do you? I actually like that the fans are flatter rather than puffy.

Last week I made the exciting discovery of an old truck and other random farm debris in the neighbouring paddock. So with the changing of the clocks this week to Daylight Saving, we all took a stroll after dinner for photos and climbing while the sun went down. I so, so wanted to finish this before the bright yellow canola faded, but I was too slow. Thankfully there's always next year!

23 comments:

  1. This is a beautiful quilt - you did an awesome job, and I love the traditional form with a modern twist - my favorite dresden quilt so far!

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  2. I really like that you quilted over the dresden quarters ... I think if you made the dresdens puffy, you wouldn't have got such a modern finish. The texture of the quilt must feel amazing :)

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  3. I think you know how much I love this Jodi...but I love it so much more than that! You have captured the essence of my fabrics perfectly and have made them look a million dollars...thank you so much! X

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  4. Anther beautiful quilt. Again great locations for your photos too.

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  5. I absolutely adore this quilt. Thank you so much for showing.

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  6. Love it love it love it! Love how you use all those colours without going rainbow, your a genius xx

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  7. Hi Jodi! I love this quilt! I have had same thoughts about dresdens and haven't made any yet. I really like your design with quarters. For me they look like dragonflies! Most beautiful and great photos! Your assistants look very professional when holding the quilt. x Teje

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  8. I've wanted to make a dresden quilt for a long time too! After seeing your quilt...I am ever closer to doing that! Your design, colors and quilting are gorgeous...perfect! Thanks for sharing this one!!

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  9. Love your quilt and the gorgeous fabrics! So bright and cheery! Thank you for sharing the link and this amazing quilt.

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  10. Beautiful quilt, love all the colors.

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  11. It's simply gorgeous. I think that what makes it spectacular is the use of the different coloured backgrounds placed randomly throughout. Adds so much interest. It's another quilt to add to my Pinterest board.

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  12. Blueberry Flutter - those are definitely butterflies. There is also great movement in this quilt. Fantastic!

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  13. What a beautiful quilt. I have yet to sew anything Dresden although I do have a template :)

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  14. I recently bought a Dresden template in an online sale (and by recently I think it may have been November last year - gosh how time flies). So amazing to see what it could become. I love the idea that my charm squares could actually be 3 Dresden wedges each... I have a couple of special charm packs tucked away awaiting inspiration :)

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  15. I love the pops of color in the background. It looks great!

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  16. I love Dresdens! This quilt is so much fun with the different colours and the quarter dresdens, there is so much interest, I just love it! You did a great job! And I also love your photos, especially the ones with the kids.

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  17. This is so clever! I love the idea of dresdens but I've never made any because I just never thought of the right project. I might give this a go. I also will have to check out the Dresden from charms thing since I have a few random charm packs I could use. Thanks for sharing!

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  18. This quilt is so pretty and fun! You're inspiring me to make some dresdens in this layout!

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  19. Simply beautiful !! Love the Quilt and your little helpers !

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  20. Love the butterfly effect! I've been considering a Dresden but haven't decided on fabrics, block size, or layout yet.

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  21. Love the butterfly effect! I've been considering a Dresden but haven't decided on fabrics, block size, or layout yet.

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I so love your comments! I read all of them and reply when I can. If you don't hear back, I'm lost under a mound of scraps or outside jumping on the trampoline with the kids. Jodi. xx