Hawk Studios

Stardate 2015.322

Sometimes, the Bigger, the Better.

Okay, so I’m a PBS nerd.  Yep, I have always liked watching the “how-to” shows on PBS, and I still watch Sewing with Nancy which airs on PBS.  With some of my graphic design background, I also very much love BOLD statements in the quilting world.  So, when I saw an episode of Sewing with Nancy where she showed you how to sew grand Dresdens, I was hooked.  I’d always loved the Dresden block, but had never seen any on such a large scale.  I bought the template and am finally getting a project going that I’ve had years in the making – in my mind. 

Enter in the grand Dresden that will become a Christmas Tree skirt this year.  Yeah!  I’ve only gone many multiple years without having a real Christmas Tree skirt, so, now’s the time to make it happen... 

I selected some holiday fabrics from my stash, and started sewing strips together to build the Dresden.  These fabrics are from various collections which caught my eye over the years, including Jason Yenter fabrics as well as Hoffman and others.  Plus, I had just recently ordered a Kate Spain holiday white/cream fabric, and it was the perfect accompaniment to the other holiday fabrics.

 

So, here we go.  The strips were all sewn together with ease, on hopes that the cutting would be a breeze. 

With the oversized template in hand, the organized mayhem began.  Cutting, cutting, and cutting away, soon I had enough fabric pies to play. 

Up on the board, organized they went; soon to be sewn together with such reverence.

Assembled in a circle, ready for more, I sandwiched the lot and began to explore.  How to quilt, how to quilt, my brain did ponder.  Doodling and thinking, until an idea came yonder.  Feathers, I said, to highlight the white; straight lines to emulate beams lighting up the night.  Off I went to free motion quilt frenzy, when to what to my wondering eyes did appear, but grand feathers and style that made me grin from ear-to-ear.

 

Almost finished; I may beat the Christmas rush, and under the tree it shall go.  For an improperly dressed tree, I shall no longer be known.  ** Grin**

Have fun as the holidays approach. Enjoy !

And, now, just some quick narrative on some of the specifics ~ 

I used double the batting here to make the feathers stand out a bit more and to give the skirt a bit more body.  I marked the vein on the feathers, and then I free motion the feathers by "eyeballing" the space.  I still have to quilt the straight lines in the colored pie pieces, and then add the binding and I'll be done.  All my free motion quilting is done on my Janome 6600 machine.  It's a workhorse!  

See you next time...