A Modern Dresden Plate: my first tutorial!!!!

I've worked really hard on this and I believe it is FINALLY ready! Here is MY VERY FIRST tutorial EVER! Hopefully it won't be my last one! I will warn you this post is VERY photo heavy, I'm a visual learner so I tried to take pics of every step.
Disclaimer: I know there are tons of tutorials on Dresden Plates and I'm not trying to "reinvent the wheel" this is more of a "this is how I did it" type tutorial!
If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment and I will try my best to answer your questions there!!!!
Alright, let's do this!!

A Modern Dresden Plate Tutoiral

Supplies Needed:
- Basic Sewing Supplies
- Fabric Scraps
- EZ Dresden Ruler
- Rotary Cutter & Mat & Ruler
- Olfa Circle Cutter (optional)

Use a 1/4" seam allowance unless state otherwise
"RST"- Right Sides Together

Make sure your press all the wrinkles out of your scraps!

Cut your scraps into varying widths (from around 0.75" to 2/5")

Subcut them into around 5" lengths

Once you have them all subcut start making strip sets by sewing 2 strips RST (chain piecing makes this step go really fast!)

Press your seams open to help reduce bulk

Sew each strip set into a 4 strip unit, until all strips are made into units. You can do this by randomly selecting your fabrics or in a certain order! (I think this would look amazing in a rainbow of colors!!!)
Again, Press seams open to help reduce the bulk

Now it's time to start cutting our Dresden Blades!!!!

Using your Dresden Ruler (I use Darlene Zimmerman's EZ Dresden Ruler that can be purchased at any local quilt shop/fabric store very inexpensively!) line up the 5 1/2" mark with the straight edge of your Strip Unit. (arrow is pointing to where you need to line up at)

In order to waste as little fabric as possible, line up your ruler as close to either side of your unit as you can! Cut around your ruler.

Once you have cut one blade out of your unit, flip your unit around so the bottom is now the top. Realign your ruler with the now top edge and make your 2nd cut. This not only helps save your fabric but it gives you more of a variety in your blades. (I didn't want mine to look uniform)

Here is another example of above step.

I used 21 blades for my Dresden Plate. Once you have cut all 21 blades out...

Lay them out in whatever order you choose. I chose to throw a few solid blades into mine.

Now, pick a place to start. Take 2 of your blades and place them RST, paying more attention to lining them up at the top edges (the larger part of the blade) rather than the bottom edges.

Sew your blades together using your 1/4" seam allowance. Go around your Dresden adding one at a time, I don't like chain piecing on this part because I tend to lose my placement when I do that. You can chain piece if you so choose, I just don't like to on this part! Make sure you go either clockwise or counter clockwise.

Continue in that manner until you have added every blade

At this point yours should look something like this.

Now fold that in half, aligning your last 2 blades to complete your circle. Sew them together with the same 1/4" seam allowance we have been using.

Yours should now look like this

Take it to your pressing board and press flat. At this point I find it much easier to press your seams to the side. Press from the front and back to make sure your seam allowances are lying as flat as possible.
You have now completed the first part of your Dresden Plate!!!! YAY!!!

Now let's get it prepared to add to our base fabric (which I'll tell u more about in just a sec.)

Remember...this is how I DO IT, if you find another way of appliqueing easier than this, feel free to use your favorite method.

I sew around the entire circle (Dresden Plate) using a 1/4" seam. This makes it easier for me to turn the raw edges under.

Once you've sewn all the way around your Dresden take it to your pressing board. I first finger press toward the wrong side up to my stitching line for a few inches, then take my iron and press with it, then repeat that process all the way around.
Flip it over to your right side is facing up and give it a really good press making sure to keep your edges turned in toward the wrong side!

You should have something similar to this.

Now you need to prepare your block base. This Dresden Plate will fit onto a 16" square base. I chose to center my Dresden on my base, but I think it would look pretty cute off centered too!

I'm not big on pinning, but once you position your Dresden on your base you need to pin it down. I think I pinned every 3 to 4 blades all the way around. You don't want your Dresden to slip out of place while you are stitching it down!!!!

With a coordinating thread (you can choose to match the thread to your Dresden or your base, either way will work!) stitch your Dresden down. I chose to use a zig zag stitch, but if you prefer you can use a straight stitch or decorative stitch, or you can choose to hand stitch yours down.

This is how mine looked at this point.

Choose your fabric for the middle of your Dresden. I chose to piece mine to match my base but a pop of color on this part would've been cute too. I use my Olfa Circle Cutter for this part but you can use a cup or any other circular object to cut out your circle. It needs to cover the middle of your Dresden plate by a good 1/2" to 3/4".

Repeat the process of stitching 1/4" around the entire circle and pressing your raw edges towards the wrong side up to your stitching line.

Center your circle over the center of your Dresden Plate and stitch it down using your stitch of choice.

And voila! You have a complete Dresden!!! I forgot to take a picture of the block before I finished it. I made mine into a mini quilt. I'll show you some pics of my finished mini! I LOVE the way it turned out!

I chose to use the rest of my scraps to make a crazy pieced backing. I did a bit of echo stitching in the center circle and chose to stipple the rest.

I LOVE IT!!! :)

I hope you find this tutorial helpful! If you have any questions don't hesitate to leave me a comment or shoot me an email! I'd love to hear what you think!

~Hope y'all are having a GREAT day!!!~

Class Review and Discount!

I was recently contacted by Craftsy and they asked me if I'd be interested in doing a review for one of their new quilting classes. Commence jumping up and down and screaming! Really? They wanted ME to review one of their classes? This can't be real! But it is! I think I'm still in shock! Sooooo.....what class did they ask me to review? Precision Piecing taught by Norah McMeeking.
   Okay, let me be honest for a sec.... I was really skeptical about reviewing this class. I didn't think I'd like it, it's not really "my style" and I didn't want to give a bad review. I feel like if I'm going to review something, ANYTHING, on my blog that I need to be 150% honest and give my true opinion. Because I know when I read a review on someone's blog I want that same honesty. So, I will tell you the truth about what I think.
Disclaimer: The opinions in this post are strictly my own, no one has told me what to say or write nor have I gotten any form of payment for this post!

 
Let me tell you a little about Craftsy first:
  Craftsy is an online educational website that offers TONS of classes for any crafting need! They offer not only quilting classes but cake decorating, crocheting, knitting sewing, and so much more!
I absolutely LOVE their platform! Once you enroll in a class you have UNLIMITED (24/7) access to your class! You can ask questions and get answers from the instructors and class mates, make video notes to book mark a place you think is important or need to go back to, and soooo much more! Every class comes with materials provided by your course instructor so you can print them out and have them in front of you! I really really really LOVE the classes I've taken, and trust me, I've taken quite a few!
  Not only do they offer classes you can buy, they offer a great selection of FREE classes! Yes, FREE! Craftsy also offers a place for designers to sale their patterns, you can find some great patterns for free also! I could really go on and on about all of Craftsy's GREAT features but, that's not why we are here, right? We are here for a CLASS REVIEW!


 So, let's get this review started, shall we? I sat down to my IPad after putting the kiddos in bed and started watching. Thinking "I don't know how I'm going to give a review, this is not the class for me" But let me tell you, I was wrong! No, I do not like traditional quilting, No I do not like the instructors fabric selections, but hold up! She's got some great techniques! I mean really, WOW! I love paper piecing, I mean really really LOVE it, but I'm not too great at lining up my points and getting things too accurate. In this class I learned A LOT about...well, precision! Here is the description Craftsy gives for the class:
Norah offers an overview of foundation paper piecing, showing you how to avoid common trouble spots. As you piece blocks inspired by traditional Amish quilts, the windows of Notre Dame and Roman mosaic floors, you'll achieve beautifully matched points, even Y-seams and smooth curves. With Norah's detailed instruction, you'll create intricate designs with the accuracy that quilt-show judges demand.

You will learn how to make 3 quilts, Amish Pinwheel, Stained Glass Window, and Emerald Rings. You will "walk away" with skills on fast and accurate foundation piecing. how to get PERFECTLY "married" seams, the dreaded Y-seams, and so much more!
 I would not recommend a brand new quilter take this class though. You need some knowledge of quilting since this class assumes you already know the basics. 

The instructor knows what she is talking about, she's a very confident and experienced instructor and it shows! I could tell she has a lot of experience teaching. And to me, that makes a difference! 

I really enjoyed taking this class and learned so many new techniques that I can use on so many future projects! I think you all would learn a lot too! So, I have a little bit of a surprise for you! Anyone who signs up for Precision Piecing through my blog post will get.... a 50% discount!!!! All you have to do is follow this link to get your discount! Pretty cool, huh? 

I hope you all will give this class a chance! I promise there is a lot to be learned! In my opinion, you can never know too much! So, go ahead, click here and save some money when you sign up for Precision Piecing! I promise you WON'T regret it!


~Hope y'all are having a great day!!~

Make It Modern: May's Sponsor

Wow! Is it just me or is time just FLYING by? I mean really, FLYING by? Gah, I keep meaning to post like a ton of things and never seem to get the chance. I guess that's what I get for choosing to sew instead, huh? Y'all will forgive me right? I'll have lots of pretties to show you very soon! (at least I hope!)
So, May has come and gone already! Wow!!!! So I'm going to pretend it's still May, (I'm only a day late!)
This month's sponsor for the Make It Modern Bee is the fantabulous online shop called Pink Chalk Fabrics!
Pink Chalk Fabrics is owned by the ever so sweet Kathy Mack! I'm going to let her about page do most of the introduction here....
In 2008, Pink Chalk Fabrics launched with the mission to provide the best cloth, pattern, and tools available for modern sewists. Our motto here is Do What You Like, Like What You Do. The entire Pink Chalk Fabrics team is dedicated to making your sewing journey a happy one. We appreciate the opportunity to provide you with an experience that will exceed your expectations.



Kathy carries a great choice of Modern quilting fabrics to meet most any sewing or quilting need! I love drooling over her selection! (Please tell me I"m not the only weirdo that does that?!?!?!)
And not only does she carry great fabrics she has an amazing selection of patterns and notions too! I find her site very easy to navigate and her customer service is TOP NOTCH!
So, y'all ready to see some droolworthy fabrics? I know I am!!!

I love me some Pearl Bracelets!

And who doesn't love Lotta Jansdotter's line Glimma?
That's just a few of my favs from her shop...I could really go on forever!!!!
If you guys like getting some great mail on a monthly basis I STRONGLY suggest you check out Kathy's Monthly Clubs there are quite a few of them!

Anywho....Kathy is offering a $25 gift certificate to her shop for one of the Make It Modern members!!!! Y'all know the drill by now, huh? I can't believe we are going into our last month of this Bee!!! It has been a great experience for me and I'm so happy to have made some great new friends! I feel very honored to have been in this Bee with such an AMAZINGLY TALENTED group of women! I can't wait to see what June brings us!!!!!

~Hope y'all are having a great day!!!~

Pattern Testing & Review

I've been super busy here lately! And what extra time I've had I've chose to sew instead of blog....and I want to show you all something I've been sewing on!
I know you guys have heard of Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness right? Well, if you haven't you really really need to go check out her blog! She is an amazing designer, and a very very sweet person! I've had the opportunity to test out one of her newest patterns! She has a bunch! This one is called the Lilium Laptop Bag. The pattern includes 2 different sizes. I chose to make the smaller one. The pattern also has the option to not make it a laptop bag (by omiting a few things) and I knew I wouldn't use it as a laptop bag so I chose to omit those few steps, and my bag turned out AMAZING!!! I really love it!

I think my helper wants to steal it from me! LOL!
Here is the description Sara includes with the pattern:
This pattern will allow you to make a laptop bag in two popular sizes. The small bag is perfect for a 13” MacBook Pro or similar sized notebook computer and the larger bag is great for most wide-screen laptops. The bag is padded with 1/2” foam on the front, back, and bottom, for maximum protection of your electronic device. There is also an exterior and interior zippered pocket. The interior is also separated with a divider, so you have room for both your laptop and charger. What a great way to carry your laptop around in style!



This bag has a magnetic snap closure (which I love!) Okay, enough with the talking I'll just show you some pictures!

Front View

Back zippered pocket

Inside, with divider and zippered pocket

Inside of the interior zippered pocket

Front of the bag with flap raised

Front of the bag

My gorgeous girl modeling the bag! (I swear she keeps eyeballing it, and waiting for me to turn my back so she can snatch it!)

Back of bag with zippered pocket

Interior of bag with divided pockets

Another view of the interior

I put a notebook in the bag to help hold it up while taking photos, and realized it could make a PERFECT bag for school, and remember this is just the small version, and I could've probably still fit in a few more books! It has the perfect place for pens and pencils and whatever else you may need!

Another one of my model, I was taking pics of just the bag and looked up and realized she had been cheesing the whole time! LOL!
I do have to admit that I am a little late in getting this finished for Sara. The reason being is that I had to remake a few parts a couple times. I guess I need to pay closer attention to what I'm doing! I'll even woman up and show you all how I messed up!

This was my first time doing a zippered pocket like this and I measured wrong, so instead of putting the pocket like it was written (for the length of the bag) I put it vertical! UGH! I was soooo mad once I realized what I had done! And I had to rip out some other things, but that was completely because I was just trying to get it done and was not paying attention!
I also made my first adjustable strap! It was sooooooo much easier than I thought!
All in all this pattern is very well written and easy to follow (if you actually read what you're doing, unlike myself!) and I would reccomend you all go and purchase it!
So, if you've not yet read Sara's blog or checked out all of her amazing patterns I highly recommend it! I own 3 or 4 of her patterns, the next one on my list to make is her Aeroplane Bag! And Sara just released her first wallet pattern that includes 3 different wallets!!!!! I can't wait to see what she comes up with next! She is such an amazing designer! So go go go check out her blog and then hop over to her pattern shop and get started on one of her bags! I promise she has something for EVERYONE!!!!!!

This bag is made using Tula Pink's faric line Saltwater! I love it!!! :)

~Hope y'all are having a GREAT day!!!!~

Make It Modern's April Sponsor: The Intrepid Thread

Hey there strangers! Long time no see!!!!! It's been a LOOOOOONG month! And a very busy one too! I'll tell you guys more about that soon though. I dropped in today to let you all know about Make It Modern's sponsor for April!!!!!!

This month's sponsor is none other than the AMAZING Julie Duek, owner of The Intrepid Thread!!!!!
I know you guys have heard me rave about her and her shop, and I honestly can't say enough good things about her! I'm going to let her about page do the talking for a moment:
"Owner, Julie Dueck, started the Intrepid Thread out of a desire to feature her own favorite fabric lines and designers, as well as offer the best possible customer care available! Not only is Julie passionate about fabric, she possesses a knowledge of fabric that only comes from years of researching it, blogging about it and buying it!
When you purchase fabric from The Intrepid Thread, you’ll benefit from Julie’s expertise! Julie keeps her finger on the pulse of the modern quilter, carefully purchasing each bolt of fabric herself. In fact, if she wouldn’t want to sew with it…then it’s not good enough for her customers either!
Julie’s impeccable taste in fabric, as well as her knowledge and ability to stock the most sought-after designer fabrics, sets her apart from other fabric dealers. Her hand wrapped packages, tied with a bow and a personal note, let customers know just how important they are." 

That really says it all! I absolutely L-O-V-E getting a package from Julie! They always make my day! Her handwritten notes lets you know that she really cares about her customers! I recommend her shop to everyone I know!
Julie just recently opened up a brick and mortar shop! (Congrats, Julie!) The only downside to that is that I don't live close enough to go see it for myself! The pictures on her home page show a really gorgeous shop!
You can visit her blog to see what is going on in her shop and what all she's into....ya never know, you may find a giveaway to go enter! :) I'm just sayin.....

Julie keeps her shop stocked with the latest modern fabrics! And with her FANTASTIC prices....it's hard to say no.... Let me just show you some of my favorites......

My favorite line!!! Comma!

Tsuru.....

Color Me Retro (I LOOOOOVE the colors in this line!!!!!!)

I'm inlove with this one! 2wenty Thr3e! I wish I could get the WHOLE COLLECTION!!!!!

So you see, you really really really really REALLY need to go and check out The Intrepid Thread because it is just an all around AMAZING shop! I promise you will NOT be disappointed!

So, what is Julie offering to one lucky Make It Modern member?

This gorgeous, and I do mean GORGEOUS fat quarter bundle of Luxe In Bloom!!!!!
You girls know the drill! Have your blocks in the mail already (since it's the very last day of the month) and have a pic of each of your finished blocks in the group pool to be in the drawing! Jamie and I will be announcing the winner tomorrow! Good luck!



~Hope y'all are having a great day!!!~

Pattern Testing

Do you remember when I showed you the pic above? I told you I'd tell y'all more about it later? Well, later is here!!!
As you all know I'm an IG (instagram) addict! When I saw Diane (aka From Blank Pages) was making a new pattern for the alphabet I JUST HAD to try it out! Luckily she let me take her wonderful pattern on a little test drive! The only thing she requested was that I made something that used either g, p, q, or y in lowercase. So, I thought about it for all of like 2.2 seconds and came up with what you see above. Sew Hexy. Perfect, right? I thought so!!!

This pattern is just awesome! It is a paper piecing pattern, which I have recently become OBSESSED with paper piecing. I'm actually thinking of doing a little tutorial on how I paper piece. But that's for another day!

The thing I really love about this pattern is that it is VERY versatile! You can use these letters for just about any project you can think of! They are sized small enough you could even use them for pouches or bags! I'm thinking about using this pattern on the backing of my niece's quilt to put her name on it as well as a little message from me.
I love how this pattern doesn't create a TON of waste fabric like some of the other paper piecing patterns do. I was able to take the excess fabric I cut off from one part of a letter and use it for another part on the same letter! There is a lot of small piecing involved, which doesn't bother me AT ALL!
Her directions are very easy to follow. This pattern is very well written and easy to understand!
I'm so happy she let me test this for her!!! Thank you again Diane!!!!

When I was quilting it I didn't want to take away from the letters so I chose not to do any quilting over them at all. I love the way it turned out! The fabrics I used for the letters are from the line Les Amis, I used my favorite text print from Madrona Road, the background is Yarn Dyed Essex Linen in Flax, and I think that is some Kona White around the letters.

So you guys know you want to go out and get this pattern right? You can get it 2 different places!!
Here on Craftsy or here on Etsy and don't forget to go say Hello to Diane on her blog. When you do, don't forget to tell her I sent you!!!! I am a huge fan of her blog and her work. She's got more alphabet patterns other than this one too. (This one is called My ABC's and My abc's) You can check out her other patterns here at her Pattern Store on Craftsy. I promise you will NOT regret checking them out...she really is VERY talented!!!!

~Hope y'all are having a great day!!!~

Bee Sew Modern: My block

Happy April Fools Day!!!!
Edited to add: I almost forgot to post the winner of the giveaway!!! OOPS!!! Random.org chose #21 who said 
Margaret said...

I am a follower and I think you are doing an amazing job. Keep it up! 

I'm sending you an e-mail now Margaret! Congrats!!!!


I'm still in shock that it's APRIL ALREADY! WOW! Well, with it being April it means it's the start of Bee Sew Modern!!! YAY!!!!
I'm up for the first month, and I've thought LONG and hard about what block I wanted everyone to make for me. And, truth be told, I'm probably the ONLY quilter in the world that doesn't have a quilt that they have made! (yes, I'm ashamed)! And not only do I not have a quilt, my husband does not either!!!!
Soooo, I'm working on my own from the blocks everyone made me for Make It Modern Bee. It fits perfect for me to get everyone to make a block for my husband's quilt for Bee Sew Modern. Right?
That's my thinking EXACTLY!!!
Every quilt that I see online that I really like I have to show my husband. And I just fell inlove with this quilt. Which the pic is from Film In the Fridge 's blog.

It's called, "Converging Corners" and the tutorial can be found here.  I remember when I showed him this quilt how much he liked it. Well, there is another version she made of it that I like a little better.  You can see that quilt here. It's called "Converging Corners...Take 2". I love the way the "X"'s form in the quilt. And it's really easy to make! I won't re-do the tutorial but I will tell you guys how I made my block!

I started with the fabrics....

I picked out some gray prints in different shades....or is it "values"? And I chose Kona Snow as the background.

I then cut some strips out of each print. These vary in width from 1" up to 2.5"/

Out of the Kona Snow I cut an 8.5" x WOF. I decided to start my block with an 8.5" square, but you can start your in any size from around 6"-9". For the rest of the WOF strip I sub cut it into smaller strips to match the prints.

Now, you can do this however you want as far as the strips go. But I think I cut my first print at around 4.5" long and then added the Kona Snow on to make it the right length.

Here is what my block looked like after the first complete round of logs. You can add your prints however you want, as far as the size goes as long as each time you go around the next print is a little longer than the one before it. Does that make sense? I hope so!

I kept going around adding logs until I had used each of the prints I selected.

This is what my finished block looks like! I LOVE the way it turned out!

Here is a photo of it without any editing. I think you can see the prints a little better.
My block is 17.5" unfinished. I can't wait to see what everyone makes! This is going to be an AWESOME quilt!!!!
If you have any questions just let me know!!!!

~Hope y'all are having a great day!!!~