Monday, April 14, 2025

Fun with Dresden plates!

Dresden fans are fun to make and some fantastic effects can be achieved with the blocks!  Here are three quilts that show what can be done with a little imagination.  The expert quilters had fun with their machine quilting designs - see the closeup photos for quilting inspiration, and scroll down for a link to our Free Pattern Day!

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Lost - Then Found, entered by Christine Nelson, quilted by Julie Newcome 

This quilt top was made by unknown and members of the Honeybees quilt group (Tucson, Arizona).  A Honeybee member found the fans in a closet, but they didn't know who made them. As you can see, the border fabric - with its large floral print - was cut in a stack-and-whack fashion to make the fan blades, creating a kaleidoscope effect when the blades were laid side by side.  The Honeybees made the fans into blocks, and the blocks into this gorgeous quilt. 



Caribbean Allure by Christina Pocock, quilted by Kim Peterson 

"A few years ago we took our adult children and spouses on a Caribbean cruise aboard the "Allure of the Seas" to celebrate our 50th anniversary," says Christina Pocock, who designed and made this beauty.  "Several years later I found this bright print that reminded me of the Caribbean. It was lying on a clearance table and I bought what was left of it.  I proceeded to design this quilt in stages within those fabric limitations, not knowing what it would finally look like... I am happy with both the results and the family memories it represents."

The quilting within the fan blades almost makes them look curved, helping echo the large floral print.  Also we love this pieced inner border, made with hourglass and square-within-square blocks, and surrounded by a quilting design resembling small blocks.


Fun with Dresden by The Highlands Quilt Club, quilted by Pam Clark  

Batik fabrics make these blocks so colorful! This Dresden quilt has a modern traditionalist vibe with high contrasts and abundant negative space.  The quilter says, "A program known as Quilting for Others received a donation of batik fan blades which we immediately passed on to the Highlands Quilt Group (a local bee within the Tucson Quilters Guild).  These wonderful ladies created two beautiful quilts, giving one back to Quilting for Others and the second to Quilt for a Cause."


NOTE:  For more quilt inspiration and FREE patterns, check out our Free Pattern Day for Dresden Plate Quilts (CLICK HERE!)
 

 
Image credits: Original quilt photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 Tucson Quilters Guild show (Fun with Dresden, Lost - Then Found) and the 2024 Springville (Utah) quilt show (Caribbean Allure).


 

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