This quilt was started in 2004 when I purchased 15 vintage Dresden Plate blocks on ebay. A few of the blades needed to be replaced, and I exchanged the yellow centers for pink ones. The additional 5 plates were made up from some of my vintage scraps and the blades for the ice cream cone border were purchased on ebay the following year. Although I think it would be great fun to find the quilt pieces I need at estate sales, I doubt I would have much luck. Ebay has been a great resource for vintage quilt pieces and scraps (my favorite) or old blocks and tops that I can cut up and reuse. I’d rather spend my time sewing than searching for vintage fabric. It’s gotten awfully expensive, though, so I’m glad I have a pretty big collection.
Every step on this quilt was done by hand and it took a long time, but I loved working on it — especially the quilting. I copied the quilting pattern from a photograph of a Dresden Plate quilt in McCall’s Vintage Quilts magazine.
Dresden Plate
Martha Dellasega Gray, 2007
hand pieced & appliqued, hand quilted
70″ x 85″
