Dresden Plate

Today was not a particularly productive one. We went out for afternoon tea, so had to work around that. I did spend a wee bit of time in the workroom making decisions about ongoing projects, and finishing off the petals for this Dresden Plate, which is the project that came with Cath Kidston's Patch. There are several projects in the book that look like they would be fun hand-worked creations. 

The Dresden Plate block was originally designed during Victorian times, but became very popular in the 1920s and 1930s. It was named after the ornate china made in Dresden, but also appeared with different names, often flower related. My version has curved petals, but you can also make them with pointy tips, or just straight across creating a sort of circle. I have also seen them with each of the petals pieced (patchworked in different fabrics). 

I traced a template and cut my own freezer papers for each of the plate petals. The fabric is folded around the template and basted into place. I am working on joining them together now, just like I have been doing with the hexagons. Apart from the very clever freezer paper (which is used in the USA as a food wrap, and which can be ironed temporarily onto fabric to make excellent templates), my technique is entirely traditional. Modern patchworkers can purchase plastic templates for differing sizes of Dresden Plate blocks, and there are machine piecing techniques too. 

Hopefully I'll have my Dresden Plate done shortly. It's lovely to get some projects that have been lurking unfinished completed. I've got so many ideas for new things to try.