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Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Quilts Revisited: The Vintage Dresden Plate Quilt

So, I've realized that in my quilty blog, there are a ton of projects I've forgotten to blog about. Hence, I'll be posting occasionally in my "Quilts Revisited" series -- projects I'm revisiting because I didn't give them their moment on the blog when I finished them.

My great-great-grandmother's Dresden Plate quilt. I blogged about this quilt only a couple of times ... I was working on it in 2016 and blogged about it here, then briefly here in 2017. Then, here in 2018, I started to write about how I had finished it up in 2017. 

Anyway, I never posted the finished pictures, so here they are. Behold, my great-great-grandmother's hand-pieced Dresden Plate quilt!

Susana Neiger's great-great grandmother Minnie Belle's Vintage Dresden Plate Quilt

My great-great-grandmother, Minnie Belle Causbie Foreman, died before I was born. But she was known to be a wonderful quilter, and my mom inherited some of her finished quilts and some of her quilt tops.

Susana Neiger's great-great grandmother's Dresden Quilt

A few years ago (ahem, 2013, but who's counting?), my mom sent me the four quilt tops she had inherited that needed to be quilted. We decided that machine-quilting would be the best thing, and my mom trusted me to do the quilting. Even though these vintage quilt tops were hand-pieced, none of us was ever going to hand-quilt them. 

Susana Neiger shares Minnie Belle Causbie Foreman's Dresden Plate Quilt

To begin with, I added an outer border since the quilt had none. For the border, I didn't find an exact match to the sashing color, but I decided to go a shade darker, and the effect is nice. I quilted each Dresden and all the sashings and borders with a swirly design that sort of echoes the swirly fabric I chose for the backing. 

Susana Neiger shares vintage dresden quilt 

I do all of my quilting on a regular domestic sewing machine. As I've gotten more practice over the years, I enjoy the free-motion quilting process more and more. 

Susana Neiger -- Free-motion quilting vintage quilt on domestic sewing machine


Susana Neiger -- FMQ on domestic machine

After all my procrastinating on this one, the quilting went remarkably smoothly. I'm sure it helps that I'd practiced this quilting design on a couple of smaller projects first.

Susana Neiger -- Custom quilting a vintage dresden plate quilt

I really LOVE the vibrant colors in this quilt. Such variety!

Susana Neiger -- Machine-quilting a vintage quilt

In a way, it feels a little like I got to collaborate on a project with my great-great-grandmother, which is pretty awesome. She and I didn't get to meet each other, but I got to finish her quilt. How awesome is that?!

Susana Neiger -- Collaboration with great-great grandmother Minnie Belle Causbie Foreman

I quilted some wording into the border of the quilt, along with the dates my great-great grandmother lived ... it says, "Hand-pieced by Minnie Belle Causbie Foreman, 1871-1972."

Susana Neiger -- machine quilting great-great grandmother's hand-pieced vintage quilt

My mom has been enjoying the quilt. I'm so glad that, after all these years, she gets to enjoy using this beautiful quilt top she inherited, since it's finished now.

Susana Neiger -- finishing a vintage quilt inherited by Mom

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