Dresden Plate Out of Wack
 

I've always wanted to make a Dresden Plate Quilt, so purchased a pattern ("Muffet's Tuffet") from American Jane to go with my 2 American Jane "Bread and Butter" Jelly rolls. I did not use the template size in the pattern but instead used my Easy Dresden by Darlene Zimmerman with the size that looked compatible. So far I've used one roll to make the petals. But in sewing them together with my 1/4" foot, I have to put 21 petals together to make it lay flat instead of 16 as the pattern calls for. Follow?? Is this 21 petal Dresden going to look weird.? Realize I will have to use the other jelly roll to make enough blocks to fit my queen bed, but don't want to do it until I'm sure this will be o.k.

here;s a link to the pattern https://americanjane.com/products/AJP395.jpg

do you have a pic of the block you have already so we can see if it looks 'weird"?

A Dresden plate can have various numbers of petals. The number depends on the width of the angle. Your template apparently is cut at a different angle than the pattern, to accommodate more blades. As long as the whole thing lays flat when completed it will look just fine. Check to see if your finished plates are also coming out at a different size than in the pattern. You may need more of them, or fewer, depending on their size.

I had this happen to me before. I had to make a couple more than what the pattern called for to have the Dresden lie flat. I used the provided pattern to cut the wheels according to the pattern and still it was short. The pattern did not say to use an eighth of a inch seam allowance. But, I think it would have worked if I had. No matter, I did what you did, made enough more blades to make it lie flat. Fortunately my blades were all just red and light red and the design was not interrupted, so I went with it.
After all, isn't quilting supposed to be a fun thing to do? As a late friend used to say, "No body died", right?

I think your dresden plate will be fine if 21 blades make it lay flat. I made a dresden plate quilt and I had to make more blades (petals) than called for in the pattern just to make it lay flat.

A circle is 360 degrees, so if you should end up with 16 petals, that means each one (excluding seam allowance) is 22.5 degrees.

Check your angle ruler, if it is 17 degrees, then you'd need 21 petals (and skimp a bit on the seam).

It does not take much of a difference in the wedges to make a large difference in number of petals needed.

The part I have trouble with is I tend to start my seam a bit wide and then narrow down, this will change the angle slightly, and can mean you now have a 24 degree angle instead of a 22.5 degree angle, You will know this is happening if you find your ending circle is either larger or smaller than you expected.

When I use the easy dresden tempate I need 20 petals and sometimes have to adjust a tiny bit here and there to get it to lay flat.

I’ve found that uneven scant 1/4” seams are usually the issue with lumpy Dresden plates.

I made a 47” Dresden plate for the center medallion for a quilt. I used Marilyn Doheny’s 9 degree ruler. It makes the Dresden with 40 blades. I am now a qualified “volcano” reducer. Lol. Evidently I have a habit of starting out just fine, but as I approach the small end, I tend to move away from the 1/4” seam, which created the “volcano” in the middle. Now that I am aware of this, I draw my sewing lines on Dresden’s to avoid taming any other “volcano” issues.