Thursday, May 28, 2015

Dresden Plate Quilt History

Do you love Dresden plates quilts as much as we do at The Parish? The Dresden plate pattern has a rich history. Did you know? The Dresden Plate quilt pattern was one of the most popular quilts made during the 1920s and 30s. It was first published in the 20s. However it was not always under the name Dresden Plate. Friendship Ring, Aster, Grandmother's Sunburst, Dahlia and Sunflower are all names we've seen for this popular pattern.

The 1930s version is easy to date because of the traditional floral prints of that time. Some were made with appealingly patterned feed sacks while others were made with solid fabrics.The quilt of this time frame was made of blocks with fabric appliquéd in a series of compass like blocks with flat edges. The petals or plates radiate from a central circle which is more illustrative of a flower. Which is why there are so many flower names for this pattern.

Even though the Dresden Plate did not gain popularity in it's current form until the late 1920s the forerunner of this block were the fan patterns of the late 1800s.  You may be familiar with these fans in Victorian crazy quilting and other quilts of the era. 

Today the Dresden Plate is still popular with those who love vintage 30s fabrics. Here at The Parish is have a wonderful collection of these fabrics and excited to show you how easy and addicting this block can be! Come in today and see our FREE demo!







Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full!

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Mini Dresden Tutorial

If you know anything about The Parish you know we love the dresden plate. If you haven't made one yet we have a treat for you! We are sew in love with Suzn Quilts from Susan Marth. Here are just a few of the patterns we currently have in.


We have a tutorial board in the shoppe, but we thought we'd share it here with you. This is a great use of scraps and they make lovely embellishments for any quilt project.

Supplies you'll need:


Step 1 & 2:


Step 3 & 4:


Step 5 & 6:


Step 7 and you're done!


If you click on any of the links in the supply list you can purchase all you need for your project. We also have many of these patterns in stock. We hope you will give it a try.

Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full!

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Welcome Gail Wax to The Parish

Gail Wax is our newest addition to The Parish. Gail is such an accomplished Quilt Artists we wanted to share some of Gail's talents. Watch The Parish calendar for Gail's upcoming classes.


Gail Wax 

Quilt Artist

Creativity was a regular social experience in my family, so I don’t remember a time that I wasn’t involved in something artistic, including drawing, collage, painting, sculpture, sewing, knitting, crochet, and much more. My friends and family and I constructed high school dance decorations in our garage and built homecoming floats in our living room, all while listening to my brother's rock band practice in the den!


My current passion for art quilting began a decade ago when I attended a local guild meeting and met a wonderful group of characters that called themselves “The Art Focus Group.” Imagine my joy when I saw them use not only fabric, paint, but also yarns, threads, beads, metals and more. Art quilting breaks the sewing boundaries while still forcing me to constantly improve my sewing and quilting skills.


My body of work is a testament to both my love of learning (and teaching) and my inherently short attention span. One of my first art quilts, "Busy Bee", was juried into New Quilts of Northern California during the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, California, and has won both a judge's ribbon and show ribbon. The offbeat work shown above is part of a cape design that was also accepted by PIQF and won second place in a garments category.

While I still do traditional quilting, vintage quilt restoration and fabric hoarding as both work and hobbies, you will most often find me viewing, photographing or working on an art quilt.


I am pleased to now be affiliated with the Parkland Parish Quilt Shop in Tacoma, Washington, and hope to meet you there soon! In addition, we will be hosting art quilting classes for beginners, and I can assure you, no "talent" or "training" is required… just comfortable clothes and a desire to play with fabric. You can do that, right?

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Fun Stuff on the Horizon...

The weather is warming up and most folks are spending more time outside and beginning to make Spring Break and Summer plans. Don't forget to include The Parish on your outings. Loads of new classes and fabrics in to inspire you. Catch us FaceBook and our online calendar to keep up with what we're up to!



First up on the horizon is the 2015 Washington Row by Row Experience. This year's Row by Row runs from Sunday, June 21st through Tuesday, September 8th. New this year! Look for the fun fabric coordinates from Timeless Treasures and other fun collectibles. New to the Row by Row Experience follow the link to learn more.



Next up is the 2015 Western Washington Shop Hop. We have Shop Hop Guides in the shoppe so you can start planning your trip. We are also pre-selling Shop Hop fabrics now. They will be ready to pick up the first day of Shop Hop Thursday, June 18th. Pre-sale only $9.75 per yard. Stop in the shoppe or give us a call at 253.531.4309 to pre-order yours today, because once it's gone, its GONE.

Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full.