Diamonds are Forever-A Free Motion Quilt Tutorial

March 18, 2014
Diamonds, Quilt Tutorial, Free Motion Quilting

Diamonds, Quilt Tutorial, Free Motion QuiltingThey say “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”  and “Diamonds are Forever”.   I say, ” Diamonds are Forever is a quilter’s best friend!”   Diamonds are a very simple and quick way to fill any space or to create a border.  This pattern is fresh, modern and elegant at the same time.  This pattern would look great “morphed” with a few flowers, or just combined with spirals.

Diamonds, Quilt Tutorial, Free Motion QuiltingTHE DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER TUTORIAL

Begin by drawing rows equidistant apart.  In the samples below, the lines are one inch apart.

Next, draw “tick” marks every one inch apart.

Diamonds, Quilt Tutorial, Free Motion Quilting

Begin stitching on the center line.  Stitch up at an angle to the upper rail.  Stitch down to the tick mark on the center rail.

Diamond, FMQ Tutorial

Stitch across the center rail and down to the bottom rail.

Diamond, FMQ Tutorial

Return to the center rail at the tick mark and begin the next diamond.

Diamond, FMQ Tutorial

Continue stitching to create a row of diamonds.

Diamonds, Quilt Tutorial, Free Motion Quilting

Diamonds, Quilt Tutorial, Free Motion Quilting

To fill a larger area with diamonds, draw several lines.  Place the “tick” marks on every other line.

Diamonds, Quilt Tutorial, Free Motion Quilting

Stitch two or more rows to create a more complex pattern.

Diamonds, Quilt Tutorial, Free Motion Quilting

The fun of Diamonds are Forever is playing with the proportions.  Make the “tick marks” closer or farther apart or draw the lines wider apart.

Experiment with the sizes until you find dimensions that fit your quilt style.

Diamonds, Quilt Tutorial, Free Motion Quilting

NOTE: This tutorial was stitched on Kona Kaufman cotton solids with Aurifil 50 wt cotton thread in the bobbin and Sulky Rayon thread on top with Schmetz #80 Topstitch needle on my Bernina 820 (a domestic sewing machine)–without a stitch regulator– which I never use.

Diamonds, Quilt Tutorial, Free Motion Quilting

“Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.”   –Confucius

Be a diamond,

Lori

PS…All tutorials, images, and information is the property of Lori Kennedy @ The Inbox Jaunt and is intended for personal use only.  Feel free to re-blog and Pin with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt.  For all other uses, please contact me in the mines at lckennedy@hotmail.com.

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6 comments

  • Hmmm… I’m just curious why you do this design with that stitching path of one complete diamond at a time rather than quilting each of the straight lines all in one continuous line of stitching. Would that require backtracking that I’m missing?

  • So simple… yet effective, and easy!. Thank you!

  • RoseAnn

    Thank you Lori. Something simple that looks so good.

  • Oh this is a lovely look – I often do cross-hatching, but this looks like such a simpler way to travel… I’ll have to try it!

  • Caroline Sullivan

    Perfect timing Lori. I am going to use this pattern for the final borders of my just finished Celtic Solstice quilt top by enlarging the scale of the quilting. Thank you.

  • Roxanne

    Love the simplicity Lori. When you are doing the more complex one with the “ticks” every other row, how do you travel from one row to the next? I didn’t see where it looked like you went over your stitching a second time to get to your starting point again, I’m such a novice. But I’d love to try this. With my BSR, I’m not as talented as you are! Thanks for the great tutorials.

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