A Joyful Dresden Plate

 

I love this quilt!  This is especially notable because the era and colors are not among my favorites.  What pleases me so much is the full-out exuberance of the fabric choices.  The wild (for a background) print makes the whole design dance.  This quilt makes me smile!

At some point in its history this Dresden Plate quilt was probably thrown in the washing machine. The wool batting (which may have come from the family's sheep) ended up with lumpy and uneven shrinking.  Also, that wild background fabric is unsuitable for the washing because it was very, very lightweight, almost as light as a voile.  Apparently, two borders had already been cut back.  The remaining two borders were very badly torn, as were 3 large areas in the body of the quilt.  

After a Long Absence....I'm Coming Back!

It's been a loooooong while since any activity here on my blog....  Here's what's coming up:

 

To do right now: 
I've started a newsletter.  Sign up here.
I'll be posting twice a month, with fun little tidbits about antique/vintage quilts, quilt repair, art quilts, and newsy items.   The second post will be up in a day or two.  Sign up now to get it hot off the presses!

To read the first post, you can access the archive here.  
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In a couple of days:
I'll be posting a new quilt repair story here on the blog.  This one will be about a fun Dresden Plate with a tale of matching fabric and learning a new technique.
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In hopefully a short while:
I'm nearly done making a video demonstrating fabric identification with burn testing.  Two former workshop students and I have encountered something that appears to be new to quilt history study.
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Start planning now:
My annual quilt repair and care workshop is coming up in January 2026.  
Email me to be added to the interest list.  
Full description is on my website.
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Other news:
I am finishing up an unusual repair.  It's a contemporary, artist designed wall quilt.  I learned some new techniques for this one, too.

I'm also working on another major art quilt.  

Summer, my favorite season is coming to an end.  I'll miss sitting in my outdoor office, for sure.  But for now, I'm spending every moment outside that I can!  

 

The Exact Match - One More

Just a little while ago, I wrote about how exciting it is to find an exactly matching fabric when patching vintage and antique quilts.  I told the stories of 6 times that has happened for me in nearly 40 years of repairing quilts.  

And lo and behold, number 7 just happened!  

The quilt in question is a 1930s Dresden Plate with what today is known as an ice cream cone border.  

Not only is the fabric exact, but it is a piece taken out of an old quilt and very nearly the same shape as well.  

And there is also a piece of the same print in blue on the quilt.

 

 Such fun!

 

Saving a Damaged Heirloom Quilt

It's always both sad and wonderful when someone brings me a beloved family quilt that has, well, seen better days, but is still quite full of meaning and sentiment.  What to do?  Often there is lots of fabric damage, and sometimes tears and holes through all three layers of the quilt.  A full-out restoration would cost a whole bunch, maybe more than the owner can afford - but I think there's a bigger issue when it's the sentiment that counts.  Having a quilt end up with as much or maybe even more of my stitches than ancestral stitches just doesn't make sense. 

Here is a solution I have devised for giving a such a quilt enough support and stabilization to let the family handle and enjoy it more safely. 

Kampsville Quilts

What does this:

(photo IL State Museum)

have to do with this?


Answer:  Kampsville, Illinois.

Dresden Plate

This is a lovely quilt from the 1930s or 40s.  The pattern is a variant of the Dresden Plate known as Friendship Circle, the differences being that the spokes at the four quadrants have pointed tops, and that the center circle has four graceful ovals.  These special pieces are usually made in an accent fabric, in this case, a pumpkin orange solid.

One issue to be solved for this quilt was patching some worn pieces.  I did a bit of color manipulation on these, because the whites in this quilt have become quite yellowed and the other colors have faded.  The easiest fix was with this black fabric.  Using the reverse gave it just the dullness needed to not stand out from the original fabrics.  (The little swatch shows the right side.)