Bad Girl Quilt Along – Week 7 – Sewing Dresdens to Background

 

So close now!  I hope you are patting yourself on the back and telling yourself how awesome you are, because YOU ARE AWESOME, my friend!  And if you are behind, don’t even sweat it.  There’s no hard rules here, no obligations.  You are here of your own free will and because you love to quilt.  So chill, get yourself a mug of some smell-good tea and be exactly at the place you are.  Still working on stars?  No worries!  It will get done when it gets done.  Enjoy the journey!

 

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This Week’s Sponsor

This week once more Havel’s Sewing is giving away a surprise gift.  Let me just tell you that Havel’s always gives such great prizes, so our winner is really in for a treat.

To enter to win, post your progress on Instagram using the #badgirlqa and tagging me. You must be following me and @havels_sewing. You can enter as many times as you like.

I’ll be announcing the winner this evening.

Find Havel’s products here.

If you make a purchase at Havel’s be sure to use my coupon code “southerncharm7” to receive $7 off any purchase of $25.

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This Week’s Task

This week we are sewing our Dresdens to the background 4-patches.  There are 30 quarter Dresden’s, so this part can be a bit time consuming.  Break it up into batches a few each day to help you keep on track, but not overwhelm yourself.

The pattern is written with my favorite method of raw edge applique, Charlotte’s Fusible Web.  I have made this quilt twice before and used the Charlotte’s Web both times.  Loved it!  I decided to experiment with my third Bad Girl quilt and just see what it would look like with the Dresdens turned under.  I’ll admit, it doesn’t look how I imagined.  There’s some bulk.  I did a simple topstitch as I turned.  Next time I make this quilt, I’ll go back to the fusible thread.  I just like experimenting, but now I know.  If you are not a fan of raw edge though, you might prefer this method.

Let’s get to the tips!  I have some!  If you are taking the time to hand applique all of your Dresden’s on (kudos to you, my friend), these tips are not for you.  For the rest of us, topstitching away, there are some tips I’m happy to share to minimize the showing of the threads.

• Microquilter thread by Superior is a 100 weight thread.  It’s crazy thin and I always use it for applique when sewing with machine or hand.  It almost disappears!  Almost!  Find it here.  Also, I wrote a post about it here.
• Don’t choose a dark color thread (unless of course you just want to!).  If you are trying to minimize the thread always go with a silver or gray (unless all of your Dresdens are the exact same color).  It hides in multi-colored fabrics, dark and light.

 

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Get a personalized Bad Girl quilt along label for your quilt.

 

Get the Label

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Helpful Links

• Week 1 post
• Week 2 post
• Week 3 post
• Week 4 post
• Week 5 post
• Week 6 post
• Bad Girl pattern
• Bad Girl quilt along signups
• Personalized Bad Girl quilt label
• Video tutorial for the half rectangle triangles
• My first Bad Girl quilt, and my second
• Can a beginner make the Bad Girl quilt? (post)
• Orange Grove fabric bundle
• Midnight Garden fabric bundle
• Making Scrappy Low Volume Backgrounds (post)
• Supplies I’m using:  Dresden ruler, Charlotte’s fusible web, fussy cut rulers

 

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Patchwork + Quilt (a class for learning to quilt)

Take the Class

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