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| Diamonds Squared Quilt |
It's like striking the quilting jackpot when you find the right project to perfectly fit a clean and geometric design and a wonderful stash-busting technique. If you're itching for some fat quarters, be sure to add Donna Jordan's Quilt Design for Jordan Fabrics, Diamonds Squared, to your list. This gorgeous pattern is a clever way to use the traditional pieced square to produce a gorgeous optical illusion of diamonds interlocking and stitching together. The design is complex looking but is quite easy to piece as it is composed of very simple pieces. Even if you are at an intermediate level of beginners and want to take your skills to the next level, the design is very easy to piece.
Quilt Project Breakdown
So before you put your cutting table away and heat up your iron, let's take a look at the materials and specification that is described in the basic pattern:
- Coffee Table Finished: 69" X 92" (a great twin size or a large couch throw)
- Main Fabric: 1 pack of 20 Fat Quarters (ideal for displaying your favorite coordinated fabrics or colorful batiks)
- Neutral Background Fabric: 3.5 Yards (this fabric should be solid or crisp tone-on-tone neutral to help the diamonds stand out)
- Backing Fabric: 6 Yards
- The binding should be of standard yardage as per 69" x 92" edge.
This design is so successful because...
What makes this pattern great is the changing color of the blocks. With 20 different fat quarters, this gives an even, beautiful distribution of color and value across the quilt top.
The construction is primarily through pieced blocks and the basic 'snowballing' technique (sewing a smaller piece of fabric to the corners of a larger piece, then turning it out to form the corners). This way, the diagonal lanes can be formed with ease, without using tricky 60-degree rulers or cutting templates.
While preparing the project, it is advisable to have a new rotary blade to maintain the strip lines from being crooked. The secret to keeping your points crisp and outer edges from going out of shape is to maintain your 1/4" seam allowance, as the blocks are set on a diagonal grid (on point).
Final Thought
The Diamonds Squared Quilt is an example of the reputation that Donna Jordan's quilts enjoy in the quilting world. It takes the basic, easy-to-use blocks, and creates a fabulous, moving composition. This project is a sew to be highly rewarding, no matter whether you use a batik bundle or even many of your own scrap bins to create it, it will definitely add a lot of shine to any home. Happy stitching!
Full Pattern: Diamonds Squared Quilt Free PDF Pattern
