on the flip side

possible layout of blues for backing 

I have been working with Seminole strips the past week. The first, and my favorite strip, is the blue and white from my stay on the Chesapeake Bay. Now that I have the Dresden plate quilt top done I need a backing and I was thinking of using an old medium-dark blue sheet, (on the left in the picture above)  just plain and simple as it's back but that isn't big enough alone. It needs a little more. Which made me think how nice that blue strip of Seminole would would look on a large field of blues. I think it might be kind of modern like some of the big simple designs one sees around on the Internet. Today I measured and have begun to dream up a second Seminole strip to cross the first one and give my Dresden plate quilt back a cross or stripes of two designs. Mixing designs and fabrics up is the fun part of making quilts for me.

Dresden plate quilt top on the queen sized bed

Earlier I laid the quilt top on the bed to see how it fits and as I hoped, it covered everything. It measured approximately 88"across x108"long. That is 5x6 blocks 18" inches square minus the quarter inch seam allowance.  We can see above it fits and it is plenty big enough to cover the bed. Now I have to wonder how am I ever going to quilt this big thing on my tiny vintage Singer Featherweight? Clearly first I need to do some practice sessions with the new walking foot attachment and a smaller project to get the feel of how machine quilting is done.  The other version of Seminole with reds is on the design wall waiting for some more inspiration at the moment is is just not looking appealing to my eye. Warmer colors may be what I need for the next project to balance out the blues.

Seminole strips and stripes on the felt wall.