Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Lemons to lemonade

Well, I don't know about you, but I could certainly use a nice glass of lemonade!  The hubs and I went away for the weekend, to a place that is generally not warm in February, and it was over 60 degrees!  Not saying it wasn't wonderful, but it was quite odd. 

If you recall, last week I started making some blocks that can only be made with templates.  One turned out well and the other was a failure, mostly because of the set-in seams.  I've worked on it some, and there's a picture later, but mainly it served as inspiration for a Dresden Plate quilt.  Take a look:


I love turquoise and yellow together, don't you?  Looks like I have to reposition the center circle here.  Oh, well.  One of my goals for this year is to make a Dresden Plate quilt, but I initially didn't know what type of Dresden quilt to make.  I think I've found it.  In fact, I'm so sure I made two of these lovelies:


Okay, I'll straighten that one up, too. Not sure what happened when I was appliqueing these down.  I wanted 12-inch blocks, but miscalculated a bit and ended up with 10-inch blocks.  I'm actually okay with that and I'm pretty sure that I can come up with a layout that incorporates a few different sizes.  Not sure if this is an RSC project or not, but the turquoise was a good place to start.

As for the Gardener's Prize block which started the whole thing, this is the mess it was last week:


And this is the block now:


The center still needs to be stitched down, obviously.  I ended up stitching the diamonds to the backgrounds and the sides of the yellow sections, then appliqueing the yellow peaks to the background pieces.  There just wasn't a better way to make it work.  I'm still pretty sure that no one ever used those templates.  It would make so much more sense to make it like a Dresden Plate and then applique it to a background.  I gotta learn to go with my instincts!

So there's my "lemons to lemonade" idea.  I think the Dresdens will work out, and the template block will be finished and I will not have to make another.  Hope you are having a lovely and productive week, and all the lemonade you want.

Sharing at Let's Bee Social, Oh Scrap! and soscrappy for RSC17.

17 comments:

Jo said...

Love the Dresden blocks. Use your template block as a pocket on the back and make it a quillo

Tish Stemple said...

The weather has been quite unusually warm...just hoping it stays that way. I love this version of a Dresden Plate. I'm not sure I've seen it before. Will you do the whole quilt in the turquoise and yellow colors? It's such a fun color combo together.

KaHolly said...

Love those blocks! Good save on the templates block!

Daytona Damsel said...

Oh I love the Dresden block and the colors are fabu;ous together. Can't wait to see the finish.

Bernie Kringel said...

Good job Mari - Turquoise and yellow would be gorgeous or scrappy - that would be great as well. Your save on that first block worked out wonderfully. So creative of you!

LA Paylor said...

well I really like them. Good perseverance! Lime and turquoise... yum

Pamela Arbour said...

I admire you for your patience. You certainly made them look beautiful. Who would every know you had a problem?

gayle said...

That's a new take on Dresdens to me - I like it! I'm looking forward to seeing where you go with it.
Good save on that template block. I think you're right about the applique approach!

PaulaB quilts said...

Congrats on hanging in there and finding solutions during this frustration. Love the color combo. Could see a whole quilt in it. Keep up the good work!

Deb A said...

What a great block. It will be fun to watch this one grow.

Kathy S. said...

Very fun blocks. They are so neat and tidy!

Angie in SoCal said...

Love your block!

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

i like them! The colors are really beautiful

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

Very pretty blocks! These are going to make a really happy quilt. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

Preeti said...

Well, yes turquoise and yellow do look lovely together and kudos to you on recovering from the mess/miscalculation etc. Do you take a break?

Sandy Panagos said...

I really love your Dresden Plate blocks. Vert cool. You did a great job with the Gardener's Prize block. Great save!

Rachel said...

Those Dresden Plate blocks are great! Love the color combination - it's so cheerful!