Cherry Dresdens Mini Quilt

I am loving making all sorts of fun summer inspired projects! This little Cherry Dresdens Mini Quilt goes together really quickly and it’s perfect for a little summery decor!

I’m really loving making up these little Mini Quilts! I have a little wall display planned but I need to make more! This one is an 18″ square so it would hang almost anywhere. It would be a cute design for a throw pillow too!

I was sent the Dimensional Dresdens ruler kit by Nancy’s Notions and I was so excited to use it! I wanted to start with a small project so I created this little mini to show off those cute 3D dresdens!

The kit includes a dresden ruler for cutting out all sorts and sizes of dresden fans, plus instructions on how to create these dimensional dresdens, with little fans of fabric between the regular fans! I can’t wait to make up more with it – these were so fun to do.

I had this awesome Riley Blake Sew Cherry 2 bundle so it worked great for a summer project. And of course I had to include a little embroidery – these cherries in the centers of the dresdens are super easy to stitch up!

Cherry Dresdens Mini Quilt Tutorial

Materials:

• Dimensional Dresdens Template and Patterns
• Assorted prints for dresden shapes – 4″ x 3″ for each fan
• White fabric for inside dresden shapes
• 3 1/2″ circles of fabric for centers
• small lengths of mini pom pom trim
• 6″ square of interfacing
• 15″ square of white fabric for background
• 1/4 yard for border (or fat eighth)
• 1/4 yard for binding (or fat eighth)
• 18″ & 6″ squares of batting
• 18″ square for backing
• Embroidery floss – colors 666, 676, 703
• Cherry Embroidery pattern

Begin by reading through all the instructions in the Dimensional Dresdens book. In the back of the book are is a great chart for sizing on dresdens – we’re making the 8 1/8″  and 6 1/8″ dresdens. Plan out your fabrics for the fans. You’ll need 12 colored fabrics per dresden.

Using the ruler and the guide at the back of the book, cut out the large and small dresden shapes. The internal white fans are cut at 3″ and 2″ for each dresden.

Sew together the fans using the instructions in the booklet. There are some great tips there for making nice sharp points.

Layout your fabrics and decide how you’d like your dresdens to look. I like to do this before sewing so I can pick up each fan in order and I don’t end up with two fabrics the same color next to each other.

Follow the instructions in the booklet for sewing the dresdens together with the internal fans in place. Aren’t they cute?

Embroider your little cherries for the center of the dresdens. All the stitches on the cherries are chain stitches and the little flowers are lazy daisies.

Create the centers of the dresden and use fusible interfacing for the backing. Add a small circle of batting inside the circle after turning the center right side out.

Position the dresdens in place on the background fabric 1 3/4″ from each edge.  The large dresden goes in the lower left corner and the smaller is in the top right. Place the centers in the middle of the dresdens and run the mini pom pom trim under the edge. Fuse in place. Sew in place according to the instructions in the booklet.

Cut strips for your binding. You’ll need two strips 2 1/4″ x 15″ and two strips 2 1/4″ x 19″. Sew the smaller strips on the top and bottom of the background fabric and the longer strips on the sides.

Layer the backing fabric, the batting and the top fabric together and pin. Quilt the mini as desired. I used a free motion meandering around most of the quilt and stitched around each dresden.

Measure your mini and cut binding fabric in strips that are 1 1/2″ by 10″+ the measurement. So about 82″ of fabric. Sew the binding together and sew in place with your favorite binding method.

Add a little embroidery around each dresden with a running stitch just outside the outer edges. And then you’re all finished!

Show off your cute new mini quilt for summer!

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