I finished a quilt top of 60 degree diamonds (unfortunately too large to use Inklingo), and I am sharing some pictures of that below.
And Inklingo’s Linda Franz finished an incredible two-shape-collections-in-one (hexagons and diamonds) and you can still get it for the special low introduction price, which is an absolute steal for all that you are getting!
Pressing….ugh! I need a smaller iron. I have a Clover mini iron but the cord is way too short to be handy for a larger top.
Note in this picture: – The yellowish tea stained row clearly stands out from the back. – I drafted special templates for the outside half diamonds and corners, and cut and pieced these shapes with extra fabric on the outside edges. It made for short inset seams all around the edges of this top (and for some ripping :-( ).
But I think it was worth it, because I do not want to cut off any hard-earned sharp points with the binding!
I am not sure that I learned all that much more by using an unloved color, but I did end up with a lot of fabrics I didn’t, and still don’t like. I can piece a couple of really ugly backings or just forget about these fabrics. Meeh…. I should have gone for pink, or blue, or yellow!
One thing this top did teach me (again): Making patchwork is a great hobby for people who like laundry, ironing and vacuuming…. I prefer petting fabric, designing quilts and machine quilting!
I cut more diamonds as homework than I used. The murkiest, dullest brown fabrics ended up not being used at all. I ended up picking the fabrics that included most of the colors I do love, like pink, yellow, jade green and purple. Only once we were in class did we receive the actual assignment: Create rows in which THE PATTERN in the design flows into the pattern in the next row.
I had some trouble doing this, because I think the visual flow is more influenced by a gradual change in the colors, so I was often in doubt. Match the pattern in the print, or match the color? In the end I just went with the best color flow because I would have to live with this quilt, and not Kaffe Fassett!
But, Kaffe Fassett used me as an example in class, so he probably wasn’t too appalled by my work. I think he probably pointed my work out saying: “That’s what I mean”, because I progressed most quickly with putting rows on the design wall. From everyone in class, I had cut the most fabric options beforehand. I came this prepared because I wanted to make sure I would have time to walk around and see what others did, and also learn from Kaffe’s feedback to the other students.
You can read a previous post about this top here. I already have a pretty good idea about how I want to quilt this top, and of course I will show you that once I get to it!
XXX Annika