This month, I'm releasing a limited number of upcycled products using one of my favorite quilt patterns, the Dresden Plate block. My love for the Dresden Plate might be due to several things that capture my heart: the history, the scrappiness, the petals (or blades), the colorfulness or the math challenge so each blade sewn together forms a perfect circle.
HISTORY OF THE DRESDEN PLATE
The actual plates were delicately painted porcelain that originated in Dresden, Germany. Where it became inspiration for the Dresden Plate Quilt block. This quilt pattern became popular during the depression era in the 1920s, when women turned scraps of everyday fabric into art. They used worn-out dresses, feed sacks, and anything on hand to create the petal shapes you see in each plate. These weren’t just quilts. They were pieces of history.
FEED SACKS, you say?
Yes feed sacks! Heritage House Quilts sums it up perfectly, " Feed sacks were cotton bags used to hold animal feed, flour, sugar, rice, tobacco and so much more. The Great Depression, 1929-1939, made the repurposing of this material even more of a necessity for the vast majority of Americans.
Companies such as Gingham Girl Flour, Staley Milling Company and Percy Kent Bag Company offered percale, checkered & flower print feedsacks that were repurposed into dresses & clothing. A 100 lb feed sack could be opened to create a yard of 44" fabric- enough for a child's dress! Three feed sacks could make an adult-sized garment.
I LOVE this reusable innovation!
THE BLADES (or I prefer, petals)
I love quilting. I love fabric. I love flowers. The Dresden Plate hits all the marks. I'm growing dahlias in my backyard this summer, and the petals remind me of the Dresden Plate.
With my little flower patch in bloom, now seems like a great time to drop a few new products using upcycled vintage Dresden Plate Quilts I've collected over the years. Most of the quilts have seen better days, with evidence of age and wear. I take the best parts of these quilts and create something new to share with you: pillows, bags, bears, even a denim jacket!
CLICK HERE to see the Dresden Plate Collection, available Thursday, July 24th at 8pm.
