Our First – Pat’s Dresden Plate Quilt

One of the first quilts Sue and I made was for my sister, Pat, and it was a Dresden Plate quilt.  Her favorite color was green, so we sought out all of the different shades in the beginnings of our stash.  I remember going to our local quilt shop and selecting the darkest green fabric.  That dark green fabric ended up in the border as well as the Dresden plates themselves.  We were avid watchers and followers of Quilt in a Day, and especially Eleanor Burns.  It used to crack us up how she would trim her fabrics or blocks and toss the scraps over her shoulder.  We invested in many of her books and taped her show on our VHS recorder if we had to miss her show.  Ahh, those were the days.

Dresden Dreams

Pats quilt 2

I’m going to guess that we made this in the very early to mid 90s.  At that time it was definitely the biggest one we had ever made, or even thought to make, at a queen size.  It was all machine pieced on my Kenmore but definitely hand quilted.  Pat used this quilt until she had to move to a nursing home shortly before she passed.  At that time, our older sister, Carol, took it to her home and put it on one of her guest room beds.

Queen Size Dresden

Pats quilt 3

I am happy that Carol has given this quilt a good home for the past twelve years.  Pat passed away in 2008 and was in a nursing home prior to that.  We had a bit of fabric leftover from this project and we also made her a barrel purse.  She used that purse until it wore out, although I don’t recall ever having a photo of it.  This quilt may just be our oldest, still-in-use project.  I can say we are happy our peeps are still sleeping under it.

 

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18 Responses

  1. Tu-Na Quilts says:

    Great story behind this quilt! I watched a lot of Eleanor Burns’ TV shows when my kids were babies. I’d forgotten about her throwing the scraps over her shoulder. Even though I have several of the Make a quilt in a day patterns and have even made some, I have to say they all took me more than a day to make. I also have VHS tapes with family and baby stuff on them but, unfortunately, no VCR to play them.

  2. Susan says:

    What a sweet story to this quilt, and it’s wonderful that’s it’s still being used.

  3. chrisknits says:

    What a wonderful story behind this quilt. I am sure it will be passed on for future generations! I am wondering if my scrolling issue is linked to your pinned post? I can’t remember when it started, but noticed you have a post pinned to your blog. Hmm.

  4. The late 90s is probably about when I began quilting. The colors on that quilt are so fitting to that era and brings back memories of my eary quilting years.

    Thanks for the sweet story. Every quilt has a story and we need to tell them. Blogging does that for me, but I need to tell more.

  5. dezertsuz says:

    What a sweet quilt! I can’t tell you how much Eleanor Burns influenced my quilting, or how many things I still do today because that’s what I learned from her and it still works! Flying Geese and log cabins are two patterns that I never need a book to make because of her and how many I’ve made! Log cabin – first up, second down! Perfect pressing directions that still run through my mind as I make scrappy wonky ones!

  6. Kathryn says:

    I love this story Roseanne. I have the Eleanor Burns pattern book too for it and would like to do it someday! I wasn’t quilting in the ’90’s so love that you followed her shows. You made me laugh about her tossing the scraps. I’ve seen her do that on her Facebook live shows.

  7. cheriec12 says:

    I haven’t done a dresden yet. I will have to one day, but my to do list is growing everyday. I love the colors in this quilt. Green is one of my favorite colors as well.

  8. Rochelle says:

    My mom always like to watch Eleanor Burns just so she could see her toss the fabric over her shoulder. What a beautiful quilt with so many memories in it. Thank you for sharing.

  9. Barbara Esposito, The Quilted B says:

    Such a treasure. You know I gotta ask…is there a label on it??

  10. Oh I remember the VHS days and of course, back then who DIDN’T start with an Elenor Burns pattern – my first was her Quilt In a Day Log Cabin. Fun memories. Can’t say I miss the calico fabrics of the 70’s and 80’s – sure do enjoy what we have available now – but “those were the days my friend” and it is wonderful to go back and visit quilts that have been gifted to others knowing that they are indeed being used and loved like you intended! Great use of color and making it “scrappy green”

  11. quiltinggail says:

    What fun to have a picture of this treasure!!! And the 3 requisite borders is definitely from the ’90s! 🙂
    Occasionally, I watch Eleanor Burns, when I’m quilting something boring … she’s a lot of fun!

  12. Brenda Ackerman says:

    Hello Roseanne and Sue; Such a splendid bit of family history you have shared today along with the beautiful Dresden Quilt that you made! Dresdens have always been my favorite patterns and I have made several. Thank you for sharing this special post with us today! Have a fabulous day!

  13. I have several dresdens from working in quilting bee that need to be put into the quilt. I adore your layout and saving you so that I can reference the photo again. It just may be the lucky winner for the first dresden I put together…

  14. So many memories! 😊

  15. GlendaJean says:

    Dresden plate was one of my first quilts to, and I still love it. I must admit to really liking your green and white Dresden plate quilt is is very simply BUT so so classic, it drew me in as soon as I saw it on Esther’s blog. Cheers Glenda P S glad it’s still in the family.

  16. Vicki in MN says:

    Dresden plates were my first quilt!

  17. Roseanne, Pat’s quilt is beautiful!

  18. I remember watching Eleanor Burns’ shows too, and the tossing of the scraps. Fun memories for this quilt and, despite its age, it’s a beauty!

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