Diamond Mine
Finished Quilt Size: 40" x 48"
What you'll need:
English paper pieces
204 (3 packs) 3" Crowns
104 (2 packs) 1 1/2" 6-point (60°) Diamonds
24 1 1/2" Kites (can be made by cutting crowns in half)
20 1 1/2" Equilateral Triangles (can be made by cutting diamonds in half)
Fabric
204 fabric scraps at least 3 1/4" x 5" (or 11 fat quarters) for Crowns
24 fabric scraps at least 2 3/4" x 3 1/4" (or 1 fat quarter) for Kites
1/2 yard solid for Diamonds and Triangles (shown: coral)
1/2 yard for binding
2 2/3 yards for backing
Additional Supplies
48" x 56" batting
Rotary cutter/mat/ruler
Embroidery scissors
Hand-sewing needles (Bohin Milliners, size 9)
50-weight thread (Aurifil)
Fabric glue and/or Clover Wonder Clips*
Perle cotton, size 8 (DMC) for hand quilting
Hand-quilting needles
Sewing machine
Pressing tools
*See tutorial for more information on basting.
Going Bigger?
If you want to make this quilt larger, keep an even number of rows, with an odd number of shapes in each row. It will make the top and bottom, and each side of the quilt symmetrical.
Metric Conversion Chart
1 inch 2.54cm
1 foot 30.48cm
1/2 yard 45.72cm
1 yard 91.44cm
Cutting Instructions:
Fabric scraps: Cut the scraps 3/8" larger on all sides than the Crown and Kite paper templates.
Solid: Cut (7) 2" x width-of-fabric strips. Using the Diamond and Triangle paper templates as a guide, cut 104 Diamonds and 20 Triangles, leaving a 3/8" seam allowance on all sides.
Stitching the quilt top:
1. Prepare all the pieces for the quilt by basting the fabric to the paper templates. The solid colour fabric is used for all the Diamonds and the Triangles, and the assorted scraps are used for all the Crowns and Kites.
2. Lay out the quilt in rows to create a pleasing arrangement of colours. The featured quilt has 12 rows of 17 Crowns each, with a Kite at each end and solid colour Diamonds in the spaces between the Crowns.
3. Once you have a pleasing arrangement, take a photo on your phone to remember the layout.
4. Row 1 begins with a Kite, with the point to the top left corner of the quilt. Join it to a Crown (pointing down).
5. Add the next Crown, pointing up and continue joining the pieces. After you have 17 Crowns, finish the row by adding a Kite, pointing to the top right.
6. To fill in the gaps in the top of the row, add 10 solid Triangles (3).
7. To fill in the gaps between the Crowns, add 9 solid Diamonds (4).
8. Continue stitching all the rows, adding Diamonds to fill in the Crown gaps and Kites at the row ends. Note that the even and odd number rows mirror each other, and differ in the number of Diamonds needed. For row 12, add Triangles to fill in the bottom gaps.
Assembling the Quilt
9. Join the rows in numerical order. Place row 2 over row 1, right sides together. Sew the edges of the pieces together, bending the papers as needed to match the edges and corners.
10. Add the rows one at a time, and remove the papers, if desired, once a row is completely surrounded. Doing so as you go makes the quilt a bit lighter to handle for sewing subsequent rows.
11. Once the quilt is complete, remove any remaining papers and press the quilt top flat.
Finishing
12. Open out the turn-under of the outside edge pieces and press again.
13. Layer the backing (wrong side up), batting, and quilt top (right side up). Baste the layers together. Quilt as desired. The featured quilt was hand quilted with perle cotton using vertical lines between the diamond points and outlining around the diamonds.
14. Trim the excess quilt top, batting, and backing 1/4” beyond the seam line where the papers have been.
15. Sew the binding strips together end to end using diagonal seams. Press the binding in half wrong sides together.
16. Leaving an 8" tail of binding, sew the binding to the quilt through all layers, matching all raw edges. Miter corners. Stop approximately 12" from where you started. Lay both loose ends of binding flat along quilt edge. Where these two loose ends meet, fold them back on themselves and press to form a crease. Using this crease as your stitching line, sew the two open ends of the binding together right sides together. Trim seam to 1/4" and press open. Finish sewing binding to quilt.
17. Turn the binding to the back of quilt and hand-stitch in place.