A few years ago I bought a tool and a pattern at Susan Cleveland’s booth at the Houston show. As happens all too often, both ended up in a drawer with a promise of using them “someday”. Then last year I came across a little bundle of linen rectangles, each a little smaller than a fat quarter — and they also ended up in that drawer. Yesterday I ran across all of those things, and I decided that “someday” was now.
What was the tool? It was the Prairie Pointer, and I’d heard great things about it, but I just hadn’t gotten around to making prairie points. Now I can say that it works really well, though I still haven’t done any prairie points with it. LOL! But, as you can see from the photo, it has a very nice tip for pushing out points — without poking a hole into the fabric. On top of that, it’s metal and so the iron’s heat really penetrates and gives a nice sharp finish to that point.
So, if I didn’t make any prairie points, what did I use the tool for? I’m making a Dresden Plate quilt, and this tool gives beautifully sharp points at the tips of the spokes of those plates! The pattern I’d purchased so long ago has spokes with points at both ends, eliminating the need for an appliquéd circle in the center of each plate. I’m not ready to show you my version of the pattern, but here are a few leftover Dresden Plate pieces. These aren’t stitched together, but look at those sharp points! I’d hoped to use turquoise for the plates, but I didn’t have enough intense shades on hand (pale ones wouldn’t have shown up at all!), so I switched to batiks in reds, oranges and yellows that I did have on hand. They’ll be appliquéd onto a pieced background of linen, which should be interesting; the dual feed on my Bernina 780 has really helped to keep that stretchy fabric under control!
