When I got back from my honeymoon, I immediately noticed the new "Come Quilt With Me"  templates we had in the store. Unlike other quilt patterns, they give you a nice hard acrylic template with 1/4 inch seams slots for marking. Sort of "goof proof", which I need. After staring at and drooling on the templates for a few days, I decided to start working on a quilt with one. I chose the "Dresden Plate" for a few reasons:

1) Dresden Plate requires a lot of applique. I don't have much experience with it, so I could use the practice.

2) The Dresden Plate or Wagon wheel pattern may have had some part in the African American quilt code. I have read many conflicting stories, but the one I like the best was that a slave would hang a quilt with the Dresden blocks out their window when they were ready to escape. This may or may not be true, but I like the idea that the block symbolizes that  change is near. What can I say, I'm from Berkeley!

3) It looks really really cool!!  I think the block can look like it's spinning if the colors are placed correctly. Something you should know about me is that I love an optical illusion. It's kind of a joke around the shop actually.         --Phyllis

So to start, I chose eight solid pinks and reds, ranging from very  very light pink (almost white) to dark burgundy. The finished block has 16 pieces so each color will appear twice.  I also bought some solid black to use as the background  and the center circle, because I thought the pinks and reds would look really dramatic on a black background.

The main template is pretty small, and the centers are circles, so I decided to get the small 28mm rotary cutter. I had been looking for an excuse to buy one anyways so this was the perfect opportunity. I love sewing tools.

I don't have a washing machine at home or live very close to the laundromat, so when I really can't wait to start a project but I need my fabric washed, I just soak it in very hot water for a while and then hang it up on the clothes line I have in my sewing room.  I think it works well and I've never had a problem using any of the fabric I've washed this way.

Once I'd ironed the fabric, I started cutting the pieces. I noticed that the template was slipping a little bit, so I taped some sandpaper onto the back of it. It really did the trick and made the cutting easier and much faster.

I chose to arrange the fabrics from light to dark in a counterclockwise pattern for the first block. I think I will have some blocks going clockwise too, to accentuate the spinning effect. --Phyllis