Mini Dresden Plates: Galloping Pony Style

I spent some time over the last part of December delving into some other blogs, and have 2 or 3 favorites. ( I have added links to them near the end of the page).
One I'll mention now is written by Virginia Cole, a quilt-artist from Washington, I think.  She has a great web-site as well, http://www.gallopingpony.com/ .  I first came upon her and her quilt-collages in Houston, at the International Quilt Festival in October, 2008.  I loved her style, and she was selling patterns and books which I snagged to sell at the shop.  So, it was great to find she had this blog, and to scroll through old posts looking at all the beautiful little collages she had pictured.  It made my fingers itch to try this style again; I had made one of the projects from her book to display next to her books and patterns at the shop and had enjoyed doing it then. 

I started by piecing some of the tiny dresden plate blocks that appear frequently in her work.  The first has 16 petals, or spokes, and the others have 12. 

I used two on a table runner that I built around a piece of silk I had started some embroidery on quite a while ago, intending to make a small purse.  I just added some fabrics to the ends, appliqued the dresden plates on, turned under the edges, and sewed everything down onto a piece of maroon felted wool.  I used my tiny scallop blade to trim the edges of the runner.  The trim on the two long edges is a vintage piece that I had exactly the right length!

The next piece is to be framed, I photographed it without the frame because the glass was unable to be removed, and it made a reflection.  I don't think it's quite finished, but I have to ponder for a while to think of what need to be done.
I hope you take time to check out Virginia's web-site and blog, it's well worth it!  Also if you are interested in the techniques, she has lots of patterns and books available from her website.