Vintage to Modern with Island Batik

Island Batik challenged their Ambassadors this month to make a quilt inspired by a vintage piece.
For my vintage inspiration piece I chose this dresden plate block.  I have had the block since I was a teenager, along with a few other less inspiring pieces.  It was never quilted, although it does appear to have been pieced into something, and subsequently liberated.  It is stained, frayed, and faded, but I still think it is charming, with it’s perfect buttonhole stitching. My mom and I spent some time considering, and we believe it was made by my great-great-grandmother, Clara Okeson.

I decided to modernize this block by using a fresh take on the traditional dresden plate.  I’m a big fan of Katja Marek, so I picked up a copy of Distinctive Dresdens*.  I’ve been wanting it for a while, and self control finally gave out.  I chose Block 21, which is a five faceted block, with a pentagon in the center.
To speed me along and help with accuracy, I ordered up a set of blocks from Paperpieces.com.  I do not enjoy preparing my own foundations for English Paper Piecing.  I determined that I wanted the September block from “Rainy Days and Sun Days” collection.  They ship very quickly.
Digging through my Island Batik Stash, I decided to use my Alpine Ice fat eighth collection.  The large companion piece I was given is too noisy, so I ordered up a few yards of a neutral, called Mottled Watercolor Texture in whip cream*, as that color is included in Alpine Ice.  I want as much contrast as possible if I am going to the effort of hand piecing.
I’ve never played with a fat eighth collection before.  I really like the little chunks of fabric.  I’m a scrappy quilter at heart, so getting a little bit of the whole collection is always better than a few big pieces (although I certainly buy those, too.)
For EPP with paper pieces, I like to use my Sewline Glue Pen* for basting.  Especially for something with tight points like this, I don’t want to try to thread baste, as I do not like to baste through the papers.  I match my threads to the darker fabric, to help my stitches be less visible.  For this one, I used a dark grey from my stash of Gutermann threads.
I opted for one complete plate in the center, combined with four partials in the corners.  I wanted plenty of room to play with quilting.  I used some techniques from a class I took with Lisa Calle to “divide and conquer” the quilting.  This was my first drawing – I’m really fond of it, but I don’t have rulers in the correct arcs, so I scrapped it.  I’ll keep it and perhaps work it into a different quilt.  It is a little strong on the star shape.
I ended up going with this design – no fancy rulers needed, and plenty of feathers to amuse myself.  I marked out the spines with my water erasable marker*.  (Sometimes the marks come back after a spritz of plain water.  I tried adding a teaspoon of baking soda to my water bottle, and it made a big difference.)  Then I just went crazy with the feathers.
I quilted with a Superior Sew Fine in pale grey, and a Bottom Line thread in the bobbin.  I used Hobbe’s 80/20 batting – my personal favorite.
The quilt finished at 43″ x 48″.  I am considering putting it back on the machine for another go at the quilting.  I might do some micro stippling between the feathers to really make them pop.  Alas, today I have other work to do, and my play time is up.
My next personal learning goal is going to be squaring and blocking my quilts.  This one is wavy, and I want to be able to fix that on my next competition piece.
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This fabric collection is just beautiful.  I love the motifs in it – I think I might use the rest up in something with simple piecing that will show off all of the various prints.  Or, maybe something complicated that will take me a long time and make me late.
Thank you to Island Batik for giving me the opportunity to participate in this wonderful program.  I can’t wait to get started on my May project, and maybe get it done before the last day of the month!
If you are looking for more eye candy, check out what my fellow ambassadors have created this month.

Turid at Den Syende Himmel