Bordered Diamonds--Again

So what have I been doing these past three months?  Starting new projects, of course.

Back in October/November, I pulled out some leftover diamonds from the first Bordered Diamond quilt I made (see here), and decided to put together another one as a gift for Christmas (crazy, I know).  I had a bunch of leftover diamonds.  I always cut way too many.  A girl needs options--and I'm a lazy cutter, so a strip is easier than just one fussy cut.

Last time, I followed the Kaffe instructions, sewing the narrow strips onto the diamonds in a clockwise order, but this time I did it differently--sewing two opposite sides on, then trimming and sewing the next two sides on.  The diamonds went together much faster on the assembly since trimming was done half as often.  They didn't look all that different. 

Clockwise                        Opposite Sides

But, when I went to sew them together, I discovered that the new method of construction meant I had twice as many seams to match up when the blocks were sewn together--hopefully you can see the seams.

Clockwise

Opposite Sides

So, having done it both ways, I'd recommend the clockwise way (unless you are a more accurate sewer than I am). :)  And yes, I still have diamonds left!  And even more partial diamonds from the edges of both quilts too.  And some unsewn diamonds.  And a bunch of strips.  But I don't plan to make another one of these--maybe something with triangles instead.

Here are the borders that I decided to use.  The outer border is the same one that I used on the other Bordered Diamond quilt....it just seems to pull the colors together the best of all the fabrics I tried.  I didn't have enough of the inner border to use again (which I am trying out in the photo below), so I switched to the violet in this photo which goes nicely with the backing--it's ok, though not my favorite. 




For the back, I'm using the blue fabric with roses, which is a Phillip Jacobs print, called Lilac Rose, but I think it is out of print.  I've had it for several years--bought on a closeout sale for a ridiculously low price, and it feels good to finally use it! 






The top is finished, the backing pieced (with roses matched!), and it's ready to go to the quilter on Monday! Hooray!   Just a bit late for Christmas--but at least closer to done!

And, last but not least, last Tuesday we had a strangely peaceful snow storm, which managed to carefully stack inches of snow on narrow objects, turning the ordinary into beautiful.

 

My lovely daughter who had come home for a short visit, joined her furry sister to make a set of snow people parents just for us!   (Miss you sweetie!)

 

Happy Stitching!