It has been … this is embarrassing … over four years since this was basted. And yet it still isn’t quilted. Thankfully, it’s thread basted rather than pinned! I love this quilt – it is another in which I mixed and matched just about everything I had – batiks and novelties, brights and shabby chic. If the fabrics played nicely together in an individual diamond, I was happy. There is absolutely no reason this has languished this long waiting to be finished. I know how I want to quilt the plain setting diamonds. I know how I want to quilt the sashing. What I’m not a hundred per cent sure about is how I want to quilt the pieced diamonds. But as soon as Ferris Wheel is finished, this will be next in the hoop. The photo was taken years ago when a neighbour helped me (that’s me on the right) hold it, out on the roof garden, just shortly after I finished piecing the top. It is entirely hand pieced and contains all the diamonds from Linda Franz’ Quilted Diamonds 2 book. The pieced diamonds measure 4″ by 7″.

This is a close-up of part of the top.

Here are a few of the individual diamonds, in no particular order.  This duck diamond always makes me laugh.

As does this kitty diamond. A lot of fussy cutting was done so I could get the mouse, the paw prints, the ball of yarn and the kitty centred in each of their respective pieces.

I love the brightness of this star.

The oval diamond has one of my favourite floral fabrics in it.

The butterfly diamond is another of my favourites. As I look at some of these photos I realize I fussy cut for just about every single one of the diamonds. It sounds like a lot, but it was actually a lot of fun. And it’s going to be a lot more fun to start quilting them and get this finished.

The only challenge is going to be finding the perfect binding fabric. It has been so many years that I doubt I’ll find the batik that was used for the sashing anywhere. There’s a funny story that goes with the sashing. I had my stack of diamonds and was going to a quilt shop where I would be meeting a number of quilters, including one who hand-dyed fabrics. She took the stack of diamonds, quickly looked through them, walked to the front of the store and, before I could turn around, had picked the batik off the shelf. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that.

Baxter definitely knows how to relax. I wonder if he’s going to want to claim my Quilted Diamonds quilt as his.