I had been hoping to buy myself an EZ Dresden template on my recent visit to San Diego but the shop was out of stock.
Tied Dresden Plate Doll Quilt
The universe provided an alternative in the form of Mikarah’s tutorial where she posted instructions on how to make your own template. Making your own template is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than flying from Australia to the United States to go buy one.
My beloved helped me with the template, after just a little begging. I drew the template on heavy paper first, and he helped me transfer the design to the template plastic.
Some of the Petals and the Template
I cut sixteen petals out of two orange tones from my stash, not sure whether I’d got the template right enough for them all to fit together when all the seams are in place.
First step – sew the points. I used my new long flat pins to help me with the alignment. I like using them, but because they’re so long and thin, they feel a bit bendy compared to my regular glass-head pins.The flat pins were lovely for the applique part of the project and I’ll put them aside for that in future.
It turns out sixteen petals was too many. I got a complete circle with fourteen petals. Maybe my quarter inch seam was a little too scant or maybe I didn’t cut the template quite right. Either way, it was a good experiment. The main thing I learned – I’m not sure I’ll bother making another Dresden Plate. I admire them when others make quilts out of them, but for me the effort just wasn’t worth the result.
I did enjoy tying the quilt sandwich and I like the effect so I think I’ll do that again. I also enjoyed machine appliqueing the blades to the background fabric, even though it was a bit fiddly. I used my sewing machine’s blanket stitch for the central bright orange element and a narrow zig-zag around the outside.
This will be a doll quilt for a future swap, most likely. It’s the perfect size, at 15 inches square.
