Bright Diamonds Quilt Top Assembled

When you last saw this quilt (in 2015), it was scattered over the floor after it fell off my flannel sheet design board. I thought the cotton just didn't stick to the flannel, but I later realized the window was open and the breeze would get behind the flannel and flick it against the wall, effectively tossing off all of the blocks.

I got busy with work or whatever and put these blocks in a box and didn't take them out again until last week.

It being winter (and freakishly cold), I didn't think an open window would be a problem if I used the design wall. I laid out the blocks again, moved them around a little bit and ended with this:

The diamonds have to be sewn together in diagonal rows. It's not any harder really, but it does take a little more thought to make sure you don't mix things up. I took the blocks off the wall from top to bottom in the rows from upper right to lower left. I pinned a number on them to indicate which row they were and then managed to sew them together. (I only put one row on upside down and caught it soon enough that I didn't do any more seam ripping than necessary.)

I put the completed top back on the wall and decided it was too narrow. I'm aiming for a single (I think that's the same as a "twin") and it was less than 60" wide. I decided to add half blocks to fill in the spaces on the right and left sides. This meant putting together more blocks.

I pulled out the fabrics and put together five more diamonds. I cut them in half to use one half on each side and cut two of the halves in half again for the four corners.

The quilt police would say that you can never make a block and cut in half to use like this because it doesn't allow for a 1/4" seam allowance. So you're supposed to make a partial block just a little bigger than a half block. With this pattern, I just don't have to be that fussy. The points of the main diamonds (the inner ones of each block) won't be cut off and no one will care that the border is cut off 1/4". Now that I've proven to the quilt police I know what they know, we can move on.

On the first side, I tried to "insert" the half diamonds with Y seams and without taking out any of the existing seams. I got it done, but it's not very pretty. On the other side, I did the extra step of undoing a couple inches of the existing seam before adding the new half block. It did take a little more time but it was less fiddly.

I thought about ironing all the seams between the blocks open so that they would be nice and flat and no block would be more dominant than another, but I ended up pressing to one side and furling the seams.

You can see the intersection circled in white. Sorry to keep showing it, but I still love the effect of this method! And since each block ends up with two seams pressed in and two pressed out, none of them dominate.

While I was inserting the blocks, I discovered that one of my border strips had a little cut in it. The fabric was cut just about to the seam.

This is probably an "overcut" from cutting a previous piece that I missed when cutting this strip. I decided to mend it instead of replace it, and just stitched it to the other piece of fabric in the seam allowance. Now there won't be any pressure on the cut and it shouldn't tear any further. The seam allowance will be slightly thicker but it won't be noticeable.

Once the top was together, I trimmed the points from the edges and sewed a line of stay stitching around the outside.

This helps prevent the quilt from stretching at the edges, helps to lock any seams that weren't backstitched to prevent them from popping open, and keeps seam allowances in place as you layer the quilt.

And then I could call the quilt top done:

I think I know how I would quilt this and (unfortunately) it isn't really suited to using a longarm machine, so that means quilting it on my home machine. But I am also considering having it done by a professional longarmer with a computerized machine. I have an idea how I would like that done as well so I'm going to get a quote.

So how long does it take to make a quilt? I bought the fabric over a couple days in 2014. I cut and made the blocks in a week in 2015. And I pieced the quilt in a week in 2018. So that's four years for a quilt top, right? :)

While I was adding the half blocks on the sides, I stitched some scraps together in between each seam. (This saves you from pulling out a few inches of thread at the end of every seam and saves you from cutting those ends at the beginning of each seam.)

I ended up with a 10" block and some units that can be used in a future block or other project. Slab blocks like this are so much fun. Sticking with one colour at a time makes them surprisingly versatile, but I have no particular plans for this one.

A Day of Quilting

...but it's not what you think.

My sister and her family came for a visit over the Canada Day/July 4 holidays. She and I had planned on a half-day of working on a quilted wall hanging kit that we had each bought a year or two ago. Monday morning we got the machines set up and started to work on it.

When asked, her daughter and son said they would like to work on a project too. Her daughter wanted to work by machine, so I got her set up on my extra one. I had her choose some of my 2.5" strips and got her going on strip piecing.

I even had her working with the rotary cutter and she did well.

Anything I told her, she put into practice on the next step. It was amusing to overhear her talk herself through each step. I could tell she's been around quilting because she was familiar with the lingo and was able to evaluate each block on whether her points were matching well enough or if she should redo it.

Pretty soon she had some very good 4-patches:

While trying out a layout for a top, she decided she didn't have enough and set herself up for making some more.

Her brother wanted to sew by hand, so he worked on a 9-patch (on and off) all day.

You may have seen this one on Instagram.

He also chose fabrics from my 2.5" strips. But we subcut into 2.5" squares first, then he laid out his blocks. I had him trace a 1/4" seam on the squares to help him with his seam allowance. Every time he finishes a seam, I showed him which one to sew next.

He was very proud when his block was done:

He didn’t work on it steady so I wondered if his interest had waned, but no--as soon as the one was done, he asked if he could start the next. (Well, of course!)

And in case you aren’t impressed enough, I even had them furling their seams:

Yes, they did all their own pressing too.

Meanwhile, his sister had put together her top:

But I found out she wasn't done...she wanted to add borders. Well, ok! She looked through my fabric and found one that would work. (And that I would let her use. Let's be honest--I wasn't giving over my latest favourite batiks!)

I showed her how to measure the top in three places and to use the average for cutting the length of the border and that you add it to two ends at a time. In no time, she had it finished:

Something to be proud of!

And that is how I didn't get much sewing done but had a very enjoyable day of quilting!

Block 16: Spring Star and New Fabric (Small Wonders and Elephants)

When my sister and I chose to make this block about this time, we thought it would be seasonally appropriate. Little did we know that we would still be getting snow and freezing temperatures! But sitting cosy beside my woodstove making this block was very enjoyable, so I won't be complaining.

The block is made up of four of these units:

I think that would make a perfect little tulip on its own. Hmmm...maybe that's why the designer called this a spring star!

Here is the back:

Lots of decisions about how to press. I alternated the seams from the "flippy corners" that form the green and blue points so that they wouldn't overlap in the seam. I find it curious that the centre point where I furled the seam is twisting. Obviously I got something a little off there. But it looks ok from the front, so besides trying to hit it an extra time with the iron, I did not worry about it.

Here are all the blocks together:

I spent some time recently cutting fabric for more upcoming blocks. A couple of 12" blocks are coming so I am looking forward to them just for the variety.

I also ordered some fabric that I still plan to incorporate into this quilt. Mary Fons designed a fabric line called Small Wonders focusing on small scale prints. I thought that would be perfect for this quilt. And better yet, she organized the line around various countries/regions in the world, including the Netherlands (my "motherland") and India (elephants!).

I looked for it at quilt shops but couldn't find it. I finally broke down and did a web search and ended up getting it at fabricdepot.com. It really is adorable but the one thing I think she dropped the ball on was not using wooden shoes for the Netherlands. That would be the perfect small-scale fabric motif.

The fabrics I got were: (top row) the llamas (South America), elephants and elephants with man (India); (bottom row) windmill and man, tulips and windmills, and windmills (all from the Netherlands collection--see? she really could have used some wooden shoes instead of all windmills. And bikes.) You can see the entire collection here if you're interested.

And then another piece of fabric I got "while I was at it" was this slice of elephant wonder:

I don't expect to use it in this quilt, but isn't that gorgeous!? It was on clearance and they only had one yard left. I was too busy feeling lucky to get one to feel bad about not getting more. Who knows what I'll do with it but I will love it for sure.
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Here is Kim's Spring Star block:

I love the punch of red and blue. Her son thought it looked like an American flag, but I reminded her that the Dutch flag is made up of red, white and blue stripes so she could claim that if she wanted. In any case, we all agreed it will be a nice punch of colour in her quilt!

Block 10: Milking Day

I called my sister on Thursday for her birthday and she showed me her next block, the Milking Day block. I hadn't even started mine, so I took that as a kick in the pants!

Friday evening, I pulled out the pieces I had ready in a baggie and got started. The center of the block is a basic nine-patch. I don't know if I had a layout in mind when I chose these fabrics, but this is how I placed the fabrics as I sewed them:

Once again, I stopped and started stitching a 1/4" from the edge and was able to fold the seam intersections down flat. I've also learned this has a name: it's called furling the seams.

While sewing these blocks I have debated whether I should be marking all of the seams. I resist because of the extra time it takes and because I think I'll get better at making even 1/4" seams faster without the crutch. But when I got to some of the longer seams towards the end of this block, I went ahead and marked them with a water-soluble ink marker. I think this will be a good compromise for me for now.

Here is the back of the block after it has all been put together:

And here is the front after starching, pressing and a little trim:

I didn't plan it, but I like how the two top pieces of the milk can came together so the white dots roughly stayed in pattern. Have I shown my three little pigs fabric yet? In the lower right corner, you can see the wolf trying to blow their house in.

And here is the virtual mocked-up layout of all the blocks done so far:

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Here is Kim's block:

I like her grey fabric for the can lid and handles, and I see we used the same fabric in one of our nine-patch squares! :)