Sunday, February 13, 2022

Dresden neighborhood quilt class and project

I may have been relatively quiet on the social media front, but this time it's because I've been busy quilting 😊 I love being able to say that! Here's the latest class that I've taken.

Dresden Neighborhood Quilt Class

I've loved the Dresden Neighborhood Quilt since the first time that I saw it...but I also saw the word "Dresden" in there and figure that since I would rather not do needle-turn appliquĂ© again, that this wasn't for me. However, after seeing a class offered through my local guild, I thought that it would be easier if I was sharing the pain with a virtual class. I was so thrilled when I learned that all of it was sewn by machine! 😊

My Dresden Neighborhood quilt so far

Since I wasn't sure what fabrics to use, I googled "Dresden Neighborhood quilt" and looked at tons of pictures of these finished quilts. All of them are great, but I was drawn to a couple of them that I uploaded onto my phone to study them. The ones that I liked had strong colours with a light background. 

Since, of course, I wanted something funky, I used bright batiks that have a small range of colours on them. I used the very orange-on-orange and the gray-on-yellow batiks as my starting point. From there I added other colourful batiks. Many have purple and colours that are complimentary to orange and yellow.

Fabric choices

During the class, I cut out my house fabrics with a template. I'm not sure what happened but the template was not the size it should have been so I ended up needing 21 houses instead of the 20 from the pattern. When I sewed them together (I was so nervous!), I thought that I would have to do some major fudging to make it work, but finally I just added one more house (that's 22) to create a perfect circle....no fudging required 😊

Houses cut to different heights -
still 21 of them
Houses before cutting
 and sewing








After sewing them together and adding one more house, it was ready to be tacked onto the background.

22 houses sewn together

At this point, the class members had a discussion with our teacher, Michelle Banton of Little Pups Designs about whether to sew the pieces on or to quilt them on, that is to add the batting and backing right away before doing more than tacking the houses to the background. I opted to add the batting right away, so I sandwiched it and started quilting as I sewed things on. 

After making the houses, the fiddly but fun part starts - finding the perfect combination of fabrics for the rooves, doors, windows and whatever else is to be added 😊 I used some scraps of very dark hand-dyed fabrics that a friend gave me to make all of the rooves. The doors are all made of the same fabrics as the houses.

Adding roofs and doors to the 22 houses

I made some slightly more elaborate rooves and started adding things such as awnings and windows. 

More elaborate rooves with other fun features

FMQ around the houses and some of the rooves

I've added adhesive bonding web to more hand-dyed fabrics to add the windows, etc. I haven't had the iron out for ages before the last two projects. With my mini ironing platform and small cutting mat, I can iron and cut small pieces anywhere in the studio.

Adding adhesive bonding web to the fabric scraps

What I learned

  • If I left the FMQ to the end, I know that I have too many other projects right now and would only finish it in a few months.
  • My other Dresden needle-turn
    appliqué project
    Another incentive to get this mostly done is that our teacher holds a quick show and tell two or three weeks after the class so that we can share our progress. Since it's on Zoom, I will be receiving all of the participant's pictures of their project and arranging them in PowerPoint. It really is the best and easiest way to see them virtually. 
  • I've made this project larger than I usually do so that I can hang it up in our entrance. I can't wait to see it up there all finished!
  • FYI, the quilt here is my first (and last?) Dresden needle-turn appliquĂ© project.
  • It just occurred to me that there must be a way to make the Dresden shape using a technique like English Paper Piecing. I think that it would make it easier to stitch down....I'll have to check that out! 

Related links

Linking parties

I will be linking up to many fun linking parties this week. Why not check them out? Patchwork & Appliqué, Oh Scrap!, Put your foot down, Off the Wall Friday, Peacock Party, Design Wall Monday, Monday Making, Free Motion Mavericks with Muv, Midweek Makers


26 comments:

  1. Hi,
    I really like this Dresden block. So colorful! Can I as what size is the background block? Have a great day!

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    1. Hi Sherrie, the Dresden block is 20"x20" and my background is 30" x 30" I'm hoping to add something in the background, maybe birds or something, or just a lot of FMQ. It'll be big enough for my entrance. Have a great week!

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  2. I have always loved this design too. All of your different roofs really add to the charm. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

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    1. Thanks so much Cynthia. It's been a fun project. Thanks for the linking party - have a great week.

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  3. I love it! Everything looks better done in Batiks. LOL

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    1. Thanks Loulee, I agree that anything in batiks looks great :-)

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  4. Un dresden à la machine, je m'inscris aussi ;) Magnifique choix de tissus, ton village est trÚs réussi, bravo !

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    1. Merci FrĂ©dĂ©rique. J'ai beaucoup dee plaisir Ă  ajouter des fenĂȘtres etc. - peut-ĂȘtre un peu trop! Je crois que Gaudi m'inspirais :-) Bonne semaine. Bisou

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  5. Love your Dresden Village. Somewhere in the stash is a kit I won from the designer, maybe I will resurrect it!

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    1. Hi Kathleen, I think that you should, at least eventually. It's a lot of fun!

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  6. Andree, your Dresden neighbourhood is fabulous! Love the fabrics you chose. All those sweet houses, with the funky rooves, doors and windows 'built' around a circle are such fun!

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    1. Thanks so much Kim. The houses have become funkier as I add details - I may have been inspired by Gaudi :-)

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  7. This is a fun block and it looks really good in those fabrics :)

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  8. I love your Dresden Neighborhood. Saw you link this on The Peacock Party Linky.

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    1. Thanks Daryl, Glad you could drop by. It's been a fun class and project!

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  9. Wow! I really love your Dresden neighborhood. Thanks for sharing your process of color selection. I just saw one with solids from Cherrywood fabrics and bought their background. ( I have a scrapbag from them. ) But your colors are really great and I like your personal additions.

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    1. Thanks Debbie, it's becoming wilder as I add details. I can't wait to FMQ it.

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  10. How fun, Andree!!! I have a kit for the Dresden Neighborhood. It's the ONLY quilt kit I've ever purchased. I've had it for several years, but still have taken it out of the package!

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    1. Hi Joy, that seems to be a running theme here! I don't buy many kits but I think that I've only made one. I now stay away, but I do encourage you to start it. It's much easier than I expected :-)

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  11. Your 'neighborhood' is very cute!

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    1. Thanks so much Susan. I'm looking forward to working on it again. Thanks for your linking parties :-)

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  12. I bought this same ruler and kit, but I haven’t tried it yet. Yours is looking fabulous!

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    1. Hi Michelle, I hope that you get a chance to make it. It is slower going with the details but so much fun. I'm looking forward to having time to work on it again.

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  13. Hello Andrée, Those are gorgeous batiks! All the different colours work so well together, and the golden doors look like open doors at night time.
    Thank you for linking up!
    Love, Muv

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    1. Thanks Muv, I hadn't noticed that, but the golden doors look very inviting. I'm looking forward to working on it again...one day!

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