Squaring up a Dresden Plate

If you found yourself at my Dresden Plate tutorial for a temperature quilt, then by the end you were led here. If you are here and are interested in seeing my Dresden plate tutorial for a temperature quilt then click here.

I decided to semi-ditch the full Dresden plate idea for my temperature quilt for 2021. Instead, I am making a Dresden plate with no points and then squaring off the plate to make a square quilt block. This will make it easier to create a quilt and only require me to applique the center of the block.

If you are here for a tutorial on how I squared up my Dresden plate, then you are in the right place.

Squaring up a Dresden Plate

1. The first thing you need to do is create your Dresden plate without the points. You can follow a tutorial here but just eliminate the last steps that show you how to create a point.

2. Next, your will need to determine the size you want your finished block to be. My Dresden plate was made with 7″ strips so my final plate measured approximately 14″. With that measurement I determined I wanted 12″ unfinished squares so my finished size would be 11.5″ (In addition, my largest square ruler was 12.5″ so I was limited to how big I wanted it to be.) Once you have determined your size you will need to use your ruler to trim your plate. I lined up the diagonal line on my ruler to the center seam of my Dresden plate. I then needed to make sure the other center seam (going perpendicular) was also centered on the 12″ line.

3. Once everything was lined up, I trimmed my plate. Since I was using a 12.5″ ruler and cutting to 12″ I had to measure and cut twice.

4. The nice thing was the second cut was easier to measure since I was able to just line up the 12″ line of my ruler on the already cut edges to measure for the second cut. See photo below.

5. Next your will need to trim the remaining curved corners of your Dresden Plate. To do that your will repeat steps 2-4.

6. Next you will need to determine the size of your corner triangles. My triangles started as 4.5″ squares that I cut on the diagonal once. I determined this size by the corner measurement. I took my plate and lined up the bottom and side with my cutting mat. I looked that the missing measurement in the corner which was 3.5″. I then added an inch to that measurement.

7. Sew the four triangles to your plate.

8. Press your triangles toward the corners and trim your block.

Now you have a squared up Dresden plate that only needs the center appliqued. I am much happier with this design due to the fact that the idea of appliquéing the whole plate was not appealing to me.

Happy Sewing!

Starting to bloom by choosing JOY ~ Julia