If you like it put a Dresden on it!

If you like it put a Dresden on it............and then you will love it!

I was at a Stash Bash mini retreat last year when I discovered this "old is new again" phenomenon.  One of the girls whose name was Amy (I didn't really know her yet) was making a Dresden Block and I was curious about it.  All I knew was that Dresdens were probably your grandmother's quilt block.  Not true!  Hers was awesome and it was made with modern fabrics, turquoise, if I remember correctly!  She graciously showed me how to make them.  Then another one shows up, Karie had half Dresdens appliqued on each side of a zip pouch, rainbow - of course.  Stop it! Then, yet another one, made by Teresa out of the coolest Cotton & Steel fabrics that she placed on a tote bag. 
I thought about it for the rest of the weekend and wanted to get started on one immediately.  I already felt so  behind in this Dresden craze!  When the retreat ended, I was able to leave Greenville, South Carolina on a route that could take me past The Cary Quilting Company.  OK, it was a little bit out of the way, but we are talking emergency sewing supplies. Luckily, they had the perfect Tula Pink Fabric (The Eden Tiger head print) that I had in mind for my huge Dresden and they had the ruler too, bonus!  Go big or go home, right? 
I mean I did - I went home and cut out a really BIG one and a medium one too.  Next, I constructed an even bigger low volume tote bag to applique them on.  The finished product made me so happy!   It actually was showcased on Tula Pink's IG feed and I was thrilled.

Rainbow Dresden pillow

Lesson learned - old quilt blocks should not be forgotten, they should just be reinvented with fun new fabrics.  Also noteworthy, I am now fast friends with all these Dresden ladies. Thanks Amy, for letting me in on this fun direction to take my sewing. (We are now like a sewing gang that crosses several states.)
These are easy and addicting!  After making the giant Tula Tiger Tote, I went on to make Christmas gift bags, a rainbow Dresden pillow, and the larger than life Scrappy Dresden Quilt by Red Pepper Quilts that finished at over 50".  Continuing on with this giant Dresden trend, I am working on a Bathing Beauties poolside quilt that is almost as big.
I don't see an end to the possibilities here.



Bathing Beauties in process

Pillow I made for the nana company swap

 

Christmas gift bags for sewing circle gals

Nancy Drew

It is a surprise that I love making quilts so much after a little bit of a bumpy start.

The Case of the “Missing” Quilt

I guess it all started when I was young and got hooked on Nancy Drew books. Last year while cruising Etsy, I saw things made out of Nancy Drew fabrics and followed them to the Moda page where there was an entire series! I knew I had to have it for something, just not sure what. I decided to make a rag quilt so I purchased 2 layer cakes of fabric and tracked down another yard or so of assorted matching fabrics. I had this quilt in mind for months before actually starting it. Our retreat was coming up and I decided that I would make the quilt there. I pieced and paired all of my fabric and was ready to go. At the retreat I worked hard on Nancy Drew. I was getting so excited thinking of having her on my lap when I watched tv, having a cup of tea, or just reading with her.

I finally had all of the blocks sewn together and took it outside to spritz it. I gave it a thorough spritzing so the rag part would curl nicely. Grabbing some dollars and quarters, I set out to find the guest laundry, starting to get excited to see what it would look like. I put Nancy in the dryer, fed the quarters, and nothing – twice. I proceeded to the front desk where the young lady (probably 19 years old) was sitting. I told her of the dryer dilemma and she came to check it out. She also fed it many coins but it just was not going to run. Trying to be as helpful as she could, she offered to put it in the commercial dryer for me. OK that seemed safe, I told her for just 10 or 15 minutes and that would be enough. I did not want her to fry in the industrial dryer.

I went back to the sewing room trying to start a new project but just sort of waited, and waited, never heard from her again so I went looking. What I found was horrific! Since the front desk girl was probably a little inexperienced, she put Nancy in the industrial WASHER and not the dryer. The washer locked itself and I mean LOCKED with a huge metal arm and lock, there were pipes running into it and I saw my poor Nancy inside this huge machine with what looked like some dirty sheets. My immediate thought was that bleach and hot water would be pouring in at any minute! Front desk girl said “don’t worry I hit the Emergency Stop button!” She was also trying to pry it open with a butter knife. I was starting to freak out, ok I was already freaking out at this point. She could not get it open and said we had to wait till 10pm when the night guy comes in. 

I went back to the sewing room again, everyone knew it was bad, really bad. Jean came with me and I showed her the lockup that Nancy was in. We took pictures and laughed, but I was not really laughing. We went back to the room again to wait for 10pm. I was sad at this point, thinking I would never watch tv with Nancy, never have tea with Nancy, and was already missing her terribly.

Well everyone in the room had a Nancy Drew joke for me and they all seemed to have a ball with it! (I can laugh about it now.)

The night guy evidently got her out but did not know what to do with her. Luckily, Julie was out there and she took control of my quilt, it was still soaking wet when she brought it to me. We put Nancy in the REAL industrial dryer for 10 minutes and I just brought her back to the room. Seriously, that evening was filled with drama, excitement, almost tears, joy, everything! Probably better than a real Nancy Drew mystery and so glad I spent it with my sewing buddies.

Locked inside the industrial washer!

Hotel laundry holding her hostage!

Finally free!

Hello sewing friends!  I am brand new to the Blog life so just going all in!  I am a total fabric collector and sewing is my perfect outlet.  I am probably the only one that sees Godzilla fabric and thinks that it must be made into a tote bag immediately!  I have to admit my mind is constantly spinning with sewing ideas.  I see fabric and it tells me what it can be, endless possibilities.  I sure enjoy the novelty fabrics like zombies and stacks of pancakes, but I equally enjoy the Liberty of London uber quality fabrics too. I will share some of the crafty sewing items I am making as well as quilts in progress.  Thanks for following along - crazy stories to follow.