If you do, then I have only three words.

What are they? Buy This Book. I’ve had Quilted Diamonds 2 since it was first published back in 2004 and it is, in my opinion, the best book on hand piecing ever – just chock full of lessons on things like curved piecing, crossing seams, inset seams, many seams converging, the simple running stitch and on and on. Even if making diamonds composed of many teeny, tiny shapes doesn’t appeal, the lessons in this book apply to any hand piecing. The lessons I learned about hand piecing from the book and DVD formed the basis for everything I do now.

The two-hour DVD lesson that comes with it is like having a one-on-one lesson with Linda Franz herself. I will never forget when I got my book back in March of 2004. I started the DVD and was entranced for the full two hours. Mr. Q.O. even came in to watch part way through. This is not your typical quilting DVD either – the production values are incredible!

The quality of the book is something else — glossy pages, photographs everywhere, wonderful quotes from Jane Austen sprinkled throughout and, of course, the patterns for the pieced Quilted Diamonds along with all the lessons to be found throughout the pages of the book.

So I am really excited that Quilted Diamonds 2 is now back in print. I’m so glad it’s now available for others who want to learn how to hand piece any block, from the most simple to the most complex, using the lessons in this book. It was because of this book that I met Linda Franz back in 2004, the beginning of a friendship that I treasure to this day. She is every bit as wonderful in person as you could imagine.

But the best news for me and I bet for many others is that there is now an Inklingo Quilted Diamonds collection with some settings pieces for the Quilted Diamonds. I have loads and loads of pretty diamonds ….

… like this group …

… and this one and oh, bother – there’s too many to talk about! But they’ve all been waiting for me to finally put them together. And now that I have the means to print the shapes on fabric rather than tracing the templates for those setting pieces, I know I’ll finally get some little quilts made or possibly two medium quilts or — oh, who knows? I’m just excited that I can now do that. And I have the perfect piece of fabric set aside to use for one of the groups. I think my printer is going to be busy soon, printing out perfect shapes to finally turn these lovely diamonds into a quilt top.

Every time I look back at my pictures of the many Quilted Diamonds I made, I always want to look at this one. I absolutely loved making it, even with all those tiny pieces. They were a dream to piece, because of the lessons I learned from Quilted Diamonds 2 and Linda.

After I had made this quilt top, I just couldn’t quite face tracing all the shapes I’d need to set my other groups of diamonds into quilts. Tracing the little pieces that went into each diamond was one thing – that was fun, as the fabrics for each piece of every diamond  were picked out so carefully. But tracing many, many of the same shape on the same fabric? It just didn’t appeal the second time around. I bet this Inklingo Quilted Diamonds collection will save more than a few pieced diamonds from never getting set into quilts.

Celebration of Spring or is it a Celebration of Diamonds?

Jake snoozing.

And Baxter doing his imitation of a floor otter with his giraffe toy.