Guild Challenge - Post #2: Finishing the Dresden Plate

In yesterday's post I wrote about the beginning of a challenge wallhanging (click here if you missed reading that). Once I had the Dresden Plate attached to the quilt, I decided that I didn't want to applique the outside edges of the plate to the background fabric, as is traditionally done. I really liked the points having a more 3D look, so I decided to tack down each point with a bead instead. I love that feature of the quilt!

That is when the title of the quilt came to me ... "Joy Spring". That is what quilting is to me, and I felt so much joy working with these fabrics and trying a new technique.
I then decided that the background quilting needed to be a free motion design to reflect energy and joy flowing out of the plate/fabrics. I was nervous about overquilting the background since I hadn't done much quilting on the dresden plate, and I wanted the wallhanging to lie flat. But after the quilt was done, I thought I probably could have made the quilting design on a smaller scale and I would have liked it more. I very, very rarely remove quilting stitches... once it's done, it is done, and when I know I tried my best, I move on, no matter what the outcome! 

Here is a close up of the center of the dresden plate, and there is a little crystal heart right in the center. I added a few purple sequins and some black twisted bugle beads (they cover up where the seams don't meet up properly, but don't tell anyone!).
I finished up the wallhanging with a bright scrappy binding using leftover strips.

In the end I didn't love it, but it was fun to sew. I have an idea for beading the background area but ran out of time before the challenge submission date. I wonder if doing that beading might help me to like the quilt more?
Tomorrow I will post the mini quilt I made for the same challenge.
If you like Dresden Plate quilts and want to see more, hop over to the Quilting Gallery and vote on your favorite. Also, to read an interesting history lesson about the Dresden Plate pattern, click here.