Quirky Dresden Plates

Last time I blogged about these, they were very different. I was discussing whether they were quirky or just wierd. I've been taking them apart and putting them back together in what I think are more pleasing combinations. Not saying they aren't still quirky, tho.

Look at the one on the right in this picture. There are 9 matching red plaids, but several different dark blues that I pulled from here and there to give me a nice quirky plate. The one on the left is one made by the original maker and I enjoy that the lines in the lighter fabric don't all go the same way.



And, below, the one on the left has a consistent gray print and several reds...even a dark pink that doesn't really stand out like it did in the plate it came out of. The light blues on the right are all different and the bold prints all have blue and orange. Quirky, but a consistent use of those colors through the plate.

And, here are two matchy-matchy ones. I'm not going to get many matchy ones. Most are going to be quirky like the ones above. But, there's a place for matchy-matchy in this quilt, too.

As they said in Poltergeist, "All are Welcome."

And, this is the next one. There are three different blue prints in this and two different browns. But, they go so nicely together to give me a quirky, but pleasing plate. Even with the dirty pieces. (after this is quilted, it will get another good washing with oxyclean and biz.)

This would have been so much easier if she'd done 16 or 20 wedges instead of 18. Getting 9 from one color family and 9 from another is sometimes challenging in this quilt. And, forget about 9 that match. There aren't many fabrics that she has as multiples of 9 wedges from. But, they're great fabrics and I'm really enjoying putting them back together. They take a lot of work to disassemble a plate, press and starch the fabrics, then recut them to straight lines and exactly 20*, but once that's done, the actual hand sewing is a breeze.

I'm planning to applique these to a neutral square and put a center in them...maybe a yellow center since there are NO fabrics with yellow in them. I think this quilter didn't much like yellow because there is every shade of every color you could imagine in these fabrics...except yellow. Or, maybe I'll do the center circles in several different solid color fabrics. You just never know with me. All I can be sure of is that when I need the centers, I'll know what to use.

Or, they'll sit and wait until I do.

Everybody have a great Tuesday. I found that last "tweak" on the white featherweight this morning. One little piece that just needed to be turned the tiniest bit so another piece could slide past it without rubbing. Now, she's at optimal performance again. And, again, I'm tempted to put her back in the box before something else can go wrong. But, now that she's working perfect, how can I not use her???

That's not nearly as much of a connundrum as it sounds. Of COURSE I'm going to use her. At least for a while. Then, I'll switch to one of the others. That's the beauty of collecting.

Lane