My Life

12 Days of Christmas 2025, Oh Holy Night, Day 7

Happy New Year!

& Welcome to Day 7!

In case you want to sew before you go to bed tonight…

We’re half-way through these 12 Days of Christmas already!

It feels good to slow down with a bit of sewing each day, doesn’t it?

Do you know what today is, besides January 1st?

It’s perfect little circle day!

I LOVE making fabric circles.

But, only because I’ve found the perfect tools is it so easy.

Apliquick Bars are my favorite tool because they help me make perfectly round circles.

My happy place…
I use a tiny blind hem stitch with thread to match the circle fabric for nearly invisible stitches.

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY:

-Freezer Paper

Apliquick Bars– Highly recommended

Glue Pen for circle seam allowances

1 1/2″ Circle paper cutter – recommended only if you’ll make lots more later

 – Roxanne™ or other fabric glue to glue circles to plates & plates to blocks

-Thread(s) to match Dresden fabrics

I typically make 1″ circles for my Tiny Dresden plate centers, but I decided to use a bit bigger circle this time to make the Tiny Dresden plate look more like an “O”.

You’ll want to be sure to print the instructions at “actual size” or 100% depending on your printer setting.

Show us your finished blocks on my Sewing With Susan FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SewingWithSusan

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan

My Life

12 Days of Christmas 2025, Oh Holy Night, Day 6

Welcome to Day 6!

It’s one of my favorite days…

Tiny Dresden plate day!

Just one plate!

Notice it doesn’t even have a circle on it?

Tomorrow holds so much excitement and joy!

The reason I love to make Tiny Dresden plates is because my plates always turn out round & flat.

Want to know why???

Because I’ve had lots of practice, of course, but also because I’ve found the right tools.

#1, finding an accurate SCANT 1/4″ on my sewing machine, and being consistent with it!

I’m fortunate that I can use the open toe foot #20 on my Bernina sewing machine, click my needle position once to the right & use the edge of my presser foot as my guide. I also have to make sure to use the edge of my foot as the guide at all times, not just some of the time! lol

When teaching my Tiny Dresden plate workshops I always have at least one sewist who when after we get the machine all set up, forgets to watch the fabric go through their machine. It’s definitely an eyes-on-the-fabric-at-all-times sport.

#2, I spray all of my fabrics with Mary Ellen’s Best Press BEFORE I do any cutting. The petals are bias edges & the Best Press helps keep them from stretching as they slide through the machine over & over until the plate is finally stitched into place on the block.

#3, Apliquick Bars If I’d not had the pleasure of having Rosa, creator of the Apliquick Bars show me how to use her awesome tools, I probably would not have fallen head over heels into little Dresden plate land at all.

Perfect circles are key!

Tools make all the difference.

This is why I have the tools that I love & use on my website for you.

You can see with the links the tools that I stock for you.

SUPPLIES:

-Suzn Quilts’ Tiny Dresden Plate Template #216 –  highly recommended

-Mary Ellen’s Best Press™ in single finger pump bottle

Perfect Piecing Seam guide by Perkins Dry Goods – highly recommended

Dritz Mighty Steam Ironhighly recommended

 –That Purple Thang point turner

SUPPLIES FOR TOMORROW:

-Freezer Paper

Apliquick BarsHighly recommended

Glue Pen for circle seam allowances

1 1/2″ Circle paper cutterrecommended only if you’ll make lots more later

 – Roxanne™ or other fabric glue to glue circles to plates & plates to blocks

-Thread(s) to match Dresden fabrics

If you don’t have my awesome Tiny Dresden Plastic Template #216,

you’ll want to be sure to print the instructions at “actual size” or 100% depending on your printer setting.

Show us your finished blocks on my Sewing With Susan FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SewingWithSusan

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan