I have an unused acrylic plate also that takes 20 blades. I decided to go for less blades and use the one provided from quilters cache. I got my circle all sewed together last night. I was pressing it down when I heard crackling coming from the iron. Then I saw sparks and smoke coming from the cord where it attaches to the iron. I quickly unplugged it but left it on the dresden plate. Luckily the plate was not scorched and nothing happened with the iron. Glad I was standing there when it happened. The smell was terrible. Guess I have to go buy a new iron today.

DD - I'm also glad you were close by your iron when it sparked. Good reminder for all of us to check our equipment cords and plugs. Even new items can have flaws that result in sparking or hot wires that can melt. Good news that their was no damage to your DP or pressing surface. :thumbup: Have fun with shopping for a new iron.. there are so many new and different featured irons available these days.. I keep telling myself some day I will treat my self to the cordless Iron I have seen used on many a quilting show. ;)

Marybeth,

I used the Quilter's Cache templates and found my plate wouldn't lay flat.

I thought maybe it was because I sewed too many sections together before I pressed so I took them apart and did them in steps -- nope still wrong.

I tried making the center hole bigger, :thumbdown:

I ended up needing 20 blades. Maybe it is because of the scant 1/4" measure? My seams are exactly 1/4". (I took apart and re-sewed some of them too, thinking that was my issue.

So now I have a large dresden with a very large center, with four black blades inserted because I couldn't continue my colors in sequence . . . I think it will be 1/4' from the edge of the block. I guess I can always trim it, but I did shape the edges to make it look like a flower, so that will be a challenge.

It's fun learning these things for a BOTM project instead of buying materials for an entire quilt and getting lost, right?

Was it a Rowenta iron? I've heard this happen a lot on this board with that brand.

Jenniky, I almost bought a new one I saw someone raving about on some quilting site, but read all the reviews and it seems to be they work great for sewing but not so much for quilting because they have to be returned to the base so often to keep hot.

I had one before, and I can't remember the brand, but I found that to be true. I thought it was just because I bought a cheap iron on eBay. ;)

It was a Rowenta. It's old and I had already replaced the plug on it but this was up next to the iron. I went to the dollar store and bought an iron but it's small and I like the larger one. It's also so light weight that it won't even bend the cord out of it's own way when I sit it down. I'll look when I get to a real town.

I'm doing mine over. It was way too big and looked ugly when I tried to trim it. I found a good tutorial, including the math to figure out what size DP you want. Now I just need to dig out my protractor and see what degree angle my template is, I bought one from MSQ and don't remember. I know it takes 20 panels to make a full circle, so I'm trying to figure out how to make a smaller one.

http://sewhappygeek.co.uk/index.php/...n-quilt-block/

Cas I believe the width of the blades determines the number of blades used in the DP circle. :thumbup:

It's funny because I have a homemade template that I used to make this: http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...t-t208213.html I checked the degree and it was slimmer than the given pattern. Regardless, I used my MSQ template and just cut the length to 4.5", then I used an oval shaped measuring cup to make flower like edges, lol!

I forgot to mention ... I made the SAME mistake again, and was four blades short. This time I just made another section of the four fabrics.