Color Wheel - Dresden Plate - Free Quilt Block Pattern
Do you love every color of the rainbow? Celebrate them all in this easy Color Wheel Quilt Block!
Color Wheel Quilt Blocks - Finished size: 20-inches square
Click Here to find this free quilt pattern
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To make this quilt you will need template #3 and template #7 from the Dresden Plate Template Set. This pack of templates can create dozens of differnent Dresden Plate quilt blocks as well as tumbler quilts and be used for ruler foot quilting as well!
You'll also need fusible web like Lite Steam a Seam 2. I like this fusible web because it's thin, lightweight, but fuses fast with a hot iron. By placing a strip of fusible web on the top and bottom edge of each strip of fabric, you'll be able to piece your Color Wheel block together, then quickly fuse it on your background fabric.
Extra Quilting Tips and Tricks
When picking your fabrics for this color wheel, you'll need to select two colors for each color of the rainbow. I also think it's nice to arrange these fabrics in order of value or from darkest to lightest.
You can see color value by wearing color reduction glasses or by using the Tonal filter on your camera. Here I shot a picture of my fabric strips in order from red to purple and you can see they range from medium to light to dark and back to medium, creating a pleasing ring of fabric colors.
The key to piecing any Dresden Plate Quilt Block is accurate cutting. You want to make sure each tumbler shape is accurately with fusible web placed along the top and bottom edge.
When piecing through the fusible web, make sure to leave the paper in place. It might feel a bit stiff when you press the seam allowances open, so use a pressing tool to help you get the seams nice and flat.
When pressing the seams open on the Color Wheel Block, make sure to press lightly and use your hand to press the heat into the fabric. You don't want to keep pressing and pressing fusible web or the glue will evaporate and it won't fuse properly into place on your background fabric.
Does all this fusing stuff feel tricky? Click Here to find a video on turning the edges of your circles with a turning template instead.
The Wheel in the Sky Keeps on Quilting
So how do we quilt these Color Wheel Quilt blocks? I fused mine to really big background squares (20 inches) so there would be plenty of space to play in the background and create fun designs.
I think it would be a cool idea to quilt a different design into each color wheel segment with a thread color that matches the fabric color. It would be an awesome opportunity to play with many designs and thread colors.
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