Dresden Necktie Quilt Tutorial

One of my very best friends lost her father earlier this year.  He was a pastor at a local church, one that I attended for years.  He was a sweet man, and I will miss him much.  My friend is heart broken along with the rest of her family.  So for her mom for Christmas, she wanted to make a lap quilt with his neckties, so she could keep him close.  She asked if I could do it.

I did some research and realized there wasn't a lot of information on exactly how to do these.  But I thought I had enough that I felt comfortable tackling it.  Plus, I have some really sweet ladies at everything sewing that are fabulous sources of information.  I thought I would post a tutorial as I go, so I could help someone else who might want to make one of these quilts.

**UPDATE:  Many of you have asked about the dresden ruler.  I bought the Fast2Cut dresden ruler by Anelie Belden but it is no longer available. You can use any dresden ruler but the size may be different and create a smaller dresden.  I found some alternatives if you want a longer ruler. This one is available at Joann's but it is more narrow than Anelie's. I found this one as well, and it appears to be close to the size of mine but call or email to be sure. This one is about an inch shorter and should work. Just remember to adjust for the size of the dresden. Practice first on scraps to see what your size will be.**

The first order of business is to decide whether you want your quilt to be washable.  Some people do, some don't.  Obviously, washable is more practical.  But not all ties are created equal, and they can get ruined in the wash.  I didn't want the painstaking task of determining which of the ties would hold up.  Plus, these had such sentimental value, I didn't want to ruin even one.

My solution, thanks to my friend, Sandy, at Quarterdeck Quilts, was to make it removable.  Genius!!  And that is what this tutorial will be all about - making a removable dresden.

Most of the information out there says not to use interfacing, because it will shrink.  So if you make your quilt washable, wash the interfacing, or use this stuff.  It doesn't shrink.  I chose to use stabilizer.  I'm glad I did.  Ties are cut on the bias, and they will stretch and move when cutting and stitching.  It is VERY important that your cuts are near perfect. Now let's get into how I did mine.

I first decided I wanted a 20 blade dresden.  That's roughly 30" in diameter.  I went through all the ties and chose the ones I wanted by laying them all out on the floor.

Next, take your ties apart and remove the layer inside.  These are mine taken apart and pressed.  Be sure to press first on low heat to remove all the wrinkles and crease lines.

Cut your stabilizer about 2 inches longer and 1 inch wider than your dresden ruler.  Here is one tie and one piece of stabilizer already cut.  Notice I did not remove the lining from the tie before I cut it.  I wanted to keep that nice sharp point on the end, and it is so lightweight, I didn't think it would matter.

Now line up your stabilizer so the middle lines up with the point of the tie.  You want the stabilizer right to the end of the point, not past it.  Iron it in place.

Now flip it over and line up your dresden ruler so the edges line up with the tie close to the point as shown.

This is a closeup but not the same tie.

Now, very carefully cut your dresden.  Go slowly so you get as even a cut as possible. Here are two of mine cut.

Now stitch 5 blades together using a 1/4" seam allowance, so you have 4 quarters.  These are my 4 quarters already stitched.

 And this is one of the quarters from the back.  Press all the seams in one direction.  And press the front with low heat.

Stop right now and make sure you have pretty equal right angles.  I don't have that picture.  Square up the quarters now to avoid having them wonky when sewn together.  If you look at the photo above, you can see if I lined up one side with my cutting mat, the other side would be off just slightly.  I did not square mine up and I had a little buckling going on in the center when I was finished.  Luckily, it will be hidden by my inner circle.

Here are all 4 quarters stitched together.

And the back.

And that is it for now.  Your dresden is almost complete.  Stay tuned for my next series on how I backed this thing and made it removable from the quilt.

If you chose to make a washable quilt, you can simply place this where you want on the quilt and run a satin stitch, blanket stitch or some other decorative stitch around the outside edge.

I hope this helps someone else!!


Happy Thursday!
Angela