Diamonds are Forever- Part 3

Good morning everyone!

June is well under way and we've been dealing with major changes here at Hodgepodge!  As I'm sure you all know by now my good friend and co-author, Anne, moved to Chicago.  I miss her terribly not only because we had such great conversations, but it was nice to have someone of her talent to discuss designing issues and brainstorm on new ideas.  Although we will continue with the blog and her move will open the door to a broader geographic range, I still miss her and Lexington won't be the same for me without her...  The other major change that has occurred hits a little closer to home.  After many months of searching I finally found a job!  It took me almost a year of active searching to find it but I did it and now I must do as many working mothers do and juggle all the balls I have in the air like a well oiled machine.  What it means for the blog is I have less time to devote to my love of sewing; however, I will try my hardest to squeeze it in whenever and as much as possible!

Case in point...  The Diamonds are Forever quilt top is put together at last!!!!  Here is the final result:

The colors are a little on the golden side but I'm sure you get the picture!  This quilt was pretty easy to put together and should be pretty easy to reproduce.  Since first designing Diamonds I have since noticed several quilts of the same design.  When examining their construction many were ridged about the layout of the strips, sometimes even requiring various strip widths because they try to reproduce exact shapes.  I wanted my quilt to be freer than that.  I wanted people to achieve similar results without the headache of having to do absolutely everything the same way I did.  It was a fine balance and I don't know if I achieved everything I wanted but I am happy with the flexibility of the pattern which was very important to me.  The whole purpose of the pattern was to create "wonky" diamond shapes but "how wonky" those diamonds are are up to the quilter.

As for the border, I cannot take credit for the idea.  Anne came up with the genius design to extend the diamond pattern all the way to the edges.  I think it really set the quilt apart from other versions, don't you?  Here's a quick look at how the border came together...

These were the foundation squares which made up the diamonds and the border.  Each large square measured approximately 6 1/2 inches, while the smaller squares were 3 1/2 inches.

Once I finished sewing my strips to the foundation blocks I laid out each block to make sure the pattern and color design worked.  I was particularly happy with this corner piece!

Once sewn together two small squares should fit within one of the larger squares and all the seams should line up exactly.  In order to achieve this each block should be "squared up" to measure 6 1/2 and 3 1/2 inches.  Otherwise the seams won't line up properly.  The picture to the right is of a corner block and required border pieces on two sides of the large diamond block.  

 Here are a couple of close-ups showing how the seams and blocks lined up...

The next steps are to construct the backing, add the batting, quilt the whole thing, and finally add the binding.  It's a good thing I love to sew!