Dresden Plates and Sisters

The hot humid weather got the better of me yesterday and I left the house open in the hope we might get a breeze or that much promised rain. A few drops in the morning and that was all. As soon as I closed the house and turned the air conditioner on, my sewing room was the coolest place to be and LOTS of work happened!

In the class I took last weekend I completed ONE Dresden Plate.  But I had cut and made half the wedges for the remaining eight plates.  Yesterday I sat and stitched and ironed as well as cut and turned points until I made SEVEN plates....
 There is one plate left to make - I just need to check that is has sufficient diversity of fabric combinations and then I can finish piecing the plates - they are currently in three sections.  Because the plates are appliqued onto the backgrounds (machine applique is looking good), this could well be the quickest quilt I have ever made!  Hmmm, I still have to buy the background fabric..I am thinking white with a pink spot, but I guess that depends on what they have at the shop....hmmm shopping!

My hand piecing has been going gang busters - this is my Cheddar Sister, minus one diamond.  I have run out of paper diamonds...again!  Hettie's have got some on order for me, cos they had run out of them as well! :(

But while I am waiting (and letting my aching wrists have a holiday) I though I would ask for some opinions from my audience (that means YOU) about my colour combinations.  I was planning on making seven "sisters" - the next one under construction is chocolate brown..... 
 
Then I am told these are called "madder reds".  It wasn't my intention to have ALL dark reds, I wanted bright reds as well.  Some of the other sisters have more light/dark combinations in them.
 But the one bright red star I had made has ended up with the pinks.  Now I am thinking of ditching the chocolate sister, and having a madder red sister, fire engine red sister and an all pink sister.
 What do you think about that ? 
Is if fair to ditch the chocolate sister?  Chocolate is usually my friend, I feel harsh!
Or should I have more colours and make extra sisters? 

And while I am asking questions can anyone tell me if my EXTRA large photos take too long to down load when you are reading my blog?  Just out of interest as I noticed most people don't have such big pictures on their blogs...just wondering why?!

I use to cross stitch, before I became a patchworker.  Now I just admire, but if you love cross stitch there are some gorgeous FREE patterns to be found here at Freebie Gallery.

I hope your having a fun long weekend....for the majority of Australia that are experiencing one!
Happy quilting Sue SA.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Sue, the dresdens are just amazing... I can't believe you say it is a quicker quilt??? I'm no help in the choices.. they all look great.. I load up smaller pictures and then enlarge them on my post...
    Hugz

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  2. Those are words I never thought I'd hear 'the dresden quilt is the quickest I've ever made'. Really? Maybe a chocolate sister on the back of the quilt? I love them all, they are such nice colours.

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  3. Wow- you were crazy busy! Love those Dresden plates.

    I like all of your sisters, and I think the chocolate deserves a chance to shine. But I’d be putting that up against all the others and then making a decision about whether it unbalances all the other gorgeous colours before I made a final decision. Does that make sense ...I haven’t finished my first coffee yet .

    I never have issues with photo loading. My internet is superfast.

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  4. Your plates look beautiful! I think a spot fabric would make a fabulous background but then i am very partial to spots. I am a bit late in commenting but why don't you make up a red sister and see how it fits in and then decide which one stays and which one becomes a cushion or goes on the back. I have no trouble downloading your photos they just hang over the edge of the post column (the location on the screen where your text and pictures appears). I used to upload the photos and then adjust their size in the blog post. i think I used to make mine large because when I made them extra large they didn't look as good i.e. they didn't fit in the space nicely. Just have a play around if you are worried.

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