Quilt-Along: Part One

Welcome to the Quilt-Along!

Anyone can join in at anytime... there's no race to the finish line :) If anyone has any questions about anything along the way, please don't hesitate to ask!

This week I'm going to start with the diamond star block.

1. For each diamond star block, you'll need six 5.5" square pieces from four different fabrics.

Fabric A: 2 pieces

Fabric B: 2 pieces

Fabric C: 1 piece

Fabric D: 1 piece

And from either Fabric A or B, cut four 3.5" square pieces. Set these aside for the time being.

2. Take the six 5.5" squares and pin them right sides facing in this combination...

Fabric A + B (two sets)

Fabric C + D (one set)

3. Sew around the four sides.

4. Then take your rotary cutter and ruler and cut diagonally both ways*.

* I recommend instead of moving your squares, you move around the mat or use a rotating mat because you'll want to keep all the points nice and straight.

5. Press the half square triangles (HSTs) open* and trim the little corners. You'll end up with twelve 3.5" square HSTs all up. (Trim the HSTs to 3.5" if necessary.)

* Please be sure to not move your iron when you press the HSTs because they are going to be cut on the bias and you don't want them to stretch.

6. This block has a diamond in the centre of the star, so place the HSTs like so. Take the four 3.5" squares you cut from Fabric A or B and place them on the four corners.

7. Sew them together... I went row by row so that I didn't lose track of what HST was facing in which direction.

And there you have your first 12.5" square block! Press all the seams however you wish. I tend to always press my seams open and I like doing that for this to keep the seams less bulky.

You'll need to make five diamond star blocks for the quilt. They're really not as daunting or time-consuming as they seem! Pinkie swear!

I chose to use a mish mash of prints, but you could use a combination of prints and solids or all solids. The point of this quilt was to make a dent in my scrap pile, hence all the prints.

If you have any questions, please let me know :) Have fun with the blocks!!!