Juliebelle

I am making my first ever Dresden plate and my blades are working well but the circle for the center is kicking my backside I have tried the turning inside out method and ironing under the edge no luck with either way. I get wonky uneven sides and they are not totally round. Any ideas. My next attempt will be to try fusing the circles down and just zig zag around the edges. I am lost on this one.

Eva Knight

cut a piece of thin cardboard the same size that you want the finished circle to be. Do a running stitch around the cloth circle and pull the thread up enclosing the cardboard in the fabric circle. Press the circle with cardboard inside and then remove it. This should give you a perfect circle.

Rhonda K

Cut circles from your fabric and a light-weight interfacing adding the seam allowance. Put them right sides together and stitch the circle shape all the way around. I mark the shape so I can follow along easier. Cut a slit in the back of interfacing and turn Right Side Out.

Use a glue stick to hold in place on the dresden and stitch down.

Do you have the pivot function on your machine? It allows the needle to stay down in the fabric and you can turn the fabric. It may be called something else on other machines.

Jingle

I did this and it worked on 24 circles because I made 4 Dresden plate quilts.

feline fanatic

This is how I make circles and it works like a charm. The only thing I do different is after pressing the circles with the cardboard template, then removing it, I give the circle a spray of starch, let it soak in a bit then give them another shot with the iron to really set the shape. I made this quilt that way: Showcase of Asian Fabrics made and quilted by feline fanatic

quiltingshorttimer

this is how I do it too--works well. Keep the cardboard thin so you can get it out (I use cardstock)

RJLinkletter

This is how I do appliqué circles as well - it works really well.

Nanscan

This method works great! I have used it many times to achieve perfect circles!

Kassaundra

I do a lot of Dressies and I do it this way when I put a circle in the center.

Mkotch

I do this for circles all the time, too, only I sometimes use two layers of freezer paper (iron them together before cutting) or mylar plastic (make sure you get the kind that can be ironed). Plastic holds up better than cardboard if you're doing a lot of circles.