By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador

We’re well on our way to making a Dresden Plate. Today we’ll join the blades we made in Part 3. If you missed them, see Part 1 and Part 2.

Use a stitch length of 2mm or about 13 stitches per inch. This is a normal stitch length for piecing. Select enough blades for a full plate. You’ll sew the blades together in pairs.

Place two blades right sides together as shown above. Line them up nicely at the top edges, which is where you’ll start to sew. Using a 1/4″ seam allowance and backstitching at the beginning, sew the two blades together.

Be sure to backstitch at the top edges, where you start sewing.

Sometimes the blades don’t match up perfectly at the bottom, and that’s okay because it will be covered up. It’s more important that they match up nicely at the top edges.

Chain piece pairs of blades through the sewing machine. When you cut the blades apart, cut the threads closely at the folded edges.

You don’t want to have tails to deal with later, when you applique the plates.

No need to press yet!

Sew the pairs together, then the groups of four and so on, until you have a full plate. Here I was making sunshine blocks, so I needed only half a plate.

Turn the plate over and press all the seams in one direction from the back side.

The plate should be nice and flat from the front side. In a future post, I’ll talk about trouble-shooting your Dresdens if they don’t lie flat.

A few examples:

Here’s a little plate made in 30’s fabrics, nice and scrappy.

And these reproductions are from an earlier era. Aren’t they nice?

This plate is for an autumn quilt I’m making so it’s monochromatic. I dug deep into my orange drawers and even snagged a worn-out men’s shirt from the giveaway box.

If you’re just learning about Dresdens, I’d suggest making three plates so you can create a runner. You can always make more, but three is a good place to begin.

Up next:

Learn to appliqué the plates to backgrounds and appliqué the center circle. Here’s the Sunshine quilt I mentioned earlier.

You Are My Sunshine, designed and pieced by Diane Harris, quilted by Kristy Wolf.

The pattern for You Are My Sunshine is still available. This is one of the happiest quilts I ever made.