I have made two Dresdan plate quilts, and machine appliqued them . I don't have the patience to hand stitch. They looked fine.

Why don't you do one on machine, and one by hand then you can see what you like better. I just finished a Dresden plate doing it by hand and it really didn't take that long to do. In fact I did one an evening while watching tv.

I hand appliqued the first two plates I did and then came to my senses. I use the featherstitch on my Janome and the plates look great. Just finished two projects and ready to go with more Dresden plates!

I'm new to quilting so this may sound dumb but if you put your dresden plate down with Steam N Sew, would you still need to sew around the edges?

I like to machine applique mine. :)

I have always wanted to do a dresden plate out of 30's fabric but put it off, because of the hand sewing..

Well last year I did some blocks using Hoopsisters Machine Pattern, I used 30's fabric with a black feather stitch and they look so nice. (my grandma would have been proud)

Go for it.

There are so many machine stitches you can use - I would machine applique it

I have done mine by hand, however, it is your project and if its easier and faster, go for it. I might try it myself.

Did anybody tell you that you can machine sew all the blades together into a circle first. Then sew down a circle over the center hole - you can fold the outside edges of that circle under and topstitch it down into the center.
Fold the outside edges under, Iron them in place, then pin it carefully onto the background fabric, and matching the thread for best matching invisibility, topstitch a short stitch very close to the outside edge all the way around. You can use a fancy decorative stitch if you wish. Experiment on a sample! (make a block for a pillow)
Otherwise the only applique is around the outside edges.

You asked about fused - If it is going to be used as a wall hanging, and won't be washed, then no - you don't have to.
but if it is going to be used on a bed and washed, the edges might fray, and you might want to topstitch it using a decorative stitch.

As others have said; it is your quilt. If there was a strict rule to follow in quilting I would not pass the exam. :lol: