This month the challenge for Island Batik Ambassadors was to create a Dresden Plate quilt project using the latest fabric collections from Summer 2024. We received these fabrics in a “surprise” package in our last shipment from Island Batik.

The fabric I received to use was Midnight Garden by Jerry Khiev for Island Batik and I loved the various colours and patterns in this collection and had lots of ideas as to what I could create with it.

Here’s a closer look at the gorgeous fabrics in the Midnight Garden collection that I was so excited to work with.

I love to make Dresden Plate projects and was really looking forward to working with this beautiful fabric collection however I encountered a slight hiccup - I was out of the country for several weeks on vacation so my project is a bit late but…better late than never, right?! 😉

Once I had the fabric, I just had to create a pattern using Dresden Plate blocks. I had lots of ideas but finally settled on the Butterflies in the Midnight Garden one that I designed in EQ8. Here’s an overview of the project that I created in EQ8.

I like designing in EQ8 as it allows me to upload and use the actual fabrics that I will be choosing for the “real” quilt. This gives me a good idea of what the final effect will be and allows me to change some details, if required. I don’t always include all of the finer details - such as the circles that will be in the centre of the Dresden Plate blocks - but just enough to get me going on creating the quilt.

I love the versatility of Dresden Plate blocks: you don’t have to use a full circle, but can use half and quarter circles, as I did to make the “butterflies” in the quilt. There are so many options with this block as you’ve already seen with the amazing creations from other Island Batik Ambassadors.

Now that I’m back and recovered from my vacation (with 3 countries, 8 flights (some with several hours delay) and multiple time changes, it took me a few days to get my feet back under me!), I’m hard at work making my Butterflies in the Midnight Garden for the Island Batik Ambassador blog hop and hope to share my creation with you soon.

Be sure to check out my Pinterest board to see all the other wonderful quilts created by my fellow Island Batik Ambassadors during this month’s Dresden Plate bloghop.

Also, be sure to check out the other Island Batik Ambassadors’ blogs to see what else they’re creating. You can find them at:

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs

Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting

Megan Best ~ BestQuilter

Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts

Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts Studio

Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts

Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts

Jane Hauprich ~ Stitch by Stitch Custom Quilting

Victoria Johnson ~ Forever Quilting for You

Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs