Fancy Cut Dresden Plate

In this stage I was still working very traditionally in blocks. The learning from this quilt was to fussy cut the sections of the Dresden plate and join them together to creating individual mandalas. I really enjoyed creating the patterns in the central squares and if I get back into piecing I would like to try some of the more extensive fussy cut kaleidoscope ideas of Paul Nadelstern. I do have a hinged mirror which enables me to see what the completed fussy cut piece will look like when pieced. Here I have just used a single very patterned fabric but Paula creates her own initial section and then repeats those to create a whole. They are extremely complex. There never seems to be enough time in the day to try all the things I would like to delve into.

I often smile when looking at these old photos at how conditioned I was. The sashing quilting is within the green bands whereas today I would probably ignore those confines and quilt across the borders.

The first time I washed this quilt, the purple dye ran into the white blocks and I felt the quilt was ruined. But then I discovered Dylon washaway and a second wash with that and the quilt was pristine again. I tend to keep a packet of that in my laundry now - not just for quilts but as an insurance against dye runs in the laundry in general.