Diamond Party

I just decided to call this little challenge quilt Diamond Party because it was so much fun to make. I really enjoyed the process from start to finish. No stress, just fun!

It all started with fat eighths of these fun prints from Micheal Miller for the MQG challenge. Four of the prints are from the Petal Pinwheels collection. The gray print is Star Jacks from Atomic Tabbys. And the solid is Cotton Couture Coral.

This is one of the first quilts I designed with EQ7. I even drew in the quilting. I almost never plan the quilting when I am designing a quilt. It was fun to plan ahead this time.

Fat eighths are not a lot of fabric to work with, so I was happy to have EQ7 do the math for me to verify I'd have enough fabric. In mid-May, I paper pieced the 2" finished half square triangles and the rows came together quickly.

Then life happened and it had to wait, taped to the hallway wall, until this week. I finished the top on Thursday and pieced the back from a half yard of coordinating green that I purchased plus all the leftovers from the front. I prepared the binding, too. By the way, instead of pinning the rows together, I glue basted to be sure the points matched. It worked like a charm, but was a pain to pop them open when I pressed the seams open.

On Friday, I was ready to quilt with Aurifil 50 wt, white #2024. I quilted in the ditch with a walking foot to stabilize the piece. I wanted concentric squares, but didn't want to deal with all the turning with the walking foot, so I went free motion. Labeling them "wonky" means they don't have to be perfect!

I really like the texture and character of the quilting- front and back.

I couldn't decide which end was up, so I made 2 sleeves for the top and bottom. I used the remaining green to make the sleeves, but it wasn't quite wide enough. I pieced in some of the lighter orange from my stash and matched the seams so they blend in with the pieced back. I had saved the solid coral for the binding, but there wasn't enough to go around, so I added the lighter orange again to fill the gap.

I love this piece hanging in my green and orange powder room/laundry room.

Diamond Party

Started 5/13/14

Completed 6/13/14

Working time: 4 days

Finished size: 24" X 28"