I just finished making three Dresden plate quilts. First had a 17" background square, other two had 14" square. They were very heavy. I sew the plates down like MSQC shows on one. Second I sewed around the plates by machine. Third one I did both. Second one the points stuck up after quilting. I went back and sewed the points down by hand. Don't know if I will make any more applique quilts. One I did years ago I hand quilted and sewed down with buttonhole stitch. Good luck.