Thursday, February 8, 2024

Dresden Stars

Dresden Stars has grown to the 83.5" by 95" size. All that is left to add is the outside border. That's going to take some time since the border fabric is a stripe. The mitered corners need to be matched and the border itself is pieced so that is another challenge. Hopefully the completion will happen next week.

Here is the progress on Dresden Stars so far.

These pictures were taken on a bright sunny afternoon so this picture has a glare.


The bottom and top borders have 2 rows of scrappy pieced 1" finished squares. The narrow borders also finish at 1".


I know I took a picture of just one of the side borders but that's disappeared into cyber-land somewhere. The patchwork square blocks are made with 25-1" finished squares. Some of the fabrics were in the original kit but I also pulled fabrics from my civil war fabric tub. The light blue inset triangles are from my stash. The fabric colors in this picture are more clear than the first picture.


Of course I had to show you the backside of the flimsy. If I were going to hand quilt this quilt, I would have definitely cut out the background fabric from behind the dresdens. I don't think it makes a difference for machine quilting.


This picture of the flimsy draped on the porch glider shows the true colors. Did you notice there is a narrow red border on the outside of the flimsy? The outside border is a blue that looks slightly faded, that seems to be the style of civil war fabrics in the early 2000's. The red will add some zing to that fabric.


Here is a link to the Dresden Star pattern designed by Edyta Sitar. I call the quilt Dresden Stars because there are multiple stars, not just a star. The pattern is for a quilt 53" by 73" but I wanted a larger quilt. 

I purchased 2 kits years ago because I knew I wanted a larger quilt.

The pattern looks so much prettier in the brighter colors that Edyta is using nowadays. I like the brighter fabrics much better than these civil war fabrics. Just to clarify, the fabric kits I purchased many many years ago, came from Lolly's in Shipshewana, Indiana, not from Edyta Sitar.

Perhaps someday I'll make another dresden stars quilt in brighter colors. If I do, I'll probably won't add the light colored triangle things to the dresden plates.

Linking to Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Put Your Foot Down, Magic Crafts, TGIFF, Whoop Whoop Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

12 comments:

  1. Dear Gretchen,
    What a beautiful flimsy! The colours look amazing and I love the scrappy look. The last red border really make the quilt pop and it is really great to see how such a small addition makes such a big difference to the overall look and feel of the piece. Thank you for sharing your quilt top. Buying two kits to make a larger quilt was definitely a good decision. Have a great day.

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  2. Gretchen, your quilt is over-the-top beautiful! So much work in those borders! Looking forward to seeing the striped borders.

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  3. It's glorious! Love the fabrics. I'm so impressed with your work. :)

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  4. I love the progress you've made, it's really beautiful. Mitered corners scare the crap out of me,lol, so I'm really looking forward to seeing yours. Thank you for linking up to Put your foot down.

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  5. I have Edyta's accuquilt die for that block, heaven knows when I will make it but I do plan to. Your quilt has turned out lovely

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  6. That is a stunner!! I do like that setting fabric - it just brings life to everything!!! Great job!!!!

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  7. What a beautiful quilt. I appreciate seeing the back, too.

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  8. Your additional rows around the quilt are so SMALL! Oh, the tiny pieces. But I would have enjoyed making them as well. I liked making this pattern and did them in old Thimbleberries colors making only 10 squares. ( 1 extra) and my own setting. I even found 2 pieces together yesterday. Somehow I have lost the templates, but no worries. I have 2 others.

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  9. Your top is just beautiful! I almost changed my plan for my sister’s quilt when I saw it. Also, I want to thank you the tip about the quilting needles (S. Thomas & Sons), I ordered some and love them!

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  10. It's a beautiful top Gretchen. I love the stars but I also love those scrappy square borders. Looking forward to seeing the next border. xx

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  11. Wow, your quilt top looks fabulous with these borders. Such tiny squares, and I love the bright blue pieces, very joyful. The last border is going to be beautiful too!
    Thank you for sharing this amazing top!

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