Dresden Plates

Do you like to have machine and hand projects going at the same time?  Isn't it great when they are combined in the same project?

Called Broken China, this pattern was published in Quilters Newsletter Magazine in June of 1997.  It was a great beginner applique' project. The background blocks and petal shaped wedges were pieced by machine.  The "plate" was stitched down using needle turned applique.

For my friend Mary's Victorian home, I wanted a scrappy quilt that was subtly controlled.  I choose many different fabrics for the petals, gradating the color in each plate and shifting the rotation to create movement.