Hi everybody it’s Jenny from the MSQC. And
I have a fun project for you today. Let’s take a look at this quilt behind me. Isn’t
this great? Love these great big diamonds. They’re just really fun and so easy. So
to make this quilt what you’re going to need is one packet of ten inch squares and
we, that’s 42 of them. And we have used Sun Drops by Cory Yoder from Moda. And it’s
just a great little line. You’re also going to need a yard and a quarter of background
fabric. Now that’s going to take care of this inner piece right here and this first
2 ½ inch border out there. For your outer border you’re going to need a yard and a
quarter. And this is a nice six inch border. And so it just makes, it just frames up the
quilt really pretty. Now if you want to check on the backing, the backing is going to be
4 ½ yards right here. And this is the backing we used. It’s the same as the border and
it’s just really, really pretty. So to make this quilt you’re going to need
your simple wedge ruler. And the reason we like the simple wedge is because you can get
two cuts out of every ten inch square with our wedge. So the first thing we’re going
to do is we’re going to bring over our ten inch squares and we have a couple right here.
And you can see I’ve stacked them on top of each other which is actually great. You
know, most of the times you can stack about four and that makes your cutting go twice
as fast. So we’re going to lay this on here like this. And we’re going to make our first
cut. And we are going to go right in here just like this. And be careful at this point
right here. And then we’re going to cut right down this side. Now those are, those
are cut right there and ready to go. And, and this is where our wedge fits and really
all we do is just move it over like this. Alright so once you get this all lined up
on your second piece then we’re going to cut this as well. And I’m just going to
come along here. And then I’m going to flip this over because I want to get my edge really
nice and clean. And you can see I’m barely shaving off a little piece on there. And we’re
ready to go. So then you have your two wedges. Now this quilt, because it’s big diamonds,
you’re going to want to lay it out because you want to make sure that they match up with
each other. So you’re going to have one that goes this way and you’re going to put
its matching piece down here. Now these are going to be sewn together in rows like this.
So then, and since, to get them to match up you have to put one up and one down, then
the other half of this one is going to be up here like this. So you’re constantly
working like on three rows. So you’re just going to keep laying them out. Like this one
will go here. And this one will go here. Just like this. And making sure that your other
halves are always on the opposite side like this. So you have your rows together. Now
I have a couple of rows over here that are sewn together. Right here. And you can see
that I’ve started with a white square. You want to start and end every row with a white,
I mean, I’m sorry a wedge, with a white wedge. You want to start every row with one
of these. Because this is what’s going to make your border. You’re going to trim this
off. Now I tried cutting them in half, it just didn’t work as well. And so a little
bit of waste on our edge there. But other than that, you know you’re going to get
your rows, you’re going to sew your rows together like this. And then you’re going
to come back later and you’re just going to trim these off. You just want to leave
a quarter of an inch right here at this junction right here. And then just come and trim these
off. And that’s what makes your straight edge. So there’s a few things I don’t want to
overlook on this that make it a little bit easier. And so I want to go over those really
quick. Because this is such a quick easy project, you know, it’s easy to get caught up in
the doing of it and not pay attention to some of the details. And so I wanted to go over
this right here. When you’re ready, actually let me use a lighter one so it’s easier
for you to see. When you are ready to sew your two pieces together, so you have them
laid like this and you’re ready to sew those two together, there’s a little tip I want
to remind you of. So what I want you to do when you lay these right on the edges, I want
you to try and have a little bit of quarter of an inch of your bottom one sticking out
and then a quarter of an inch of this hang over. They will match up. But if you do that
they’ll be off set a little bit. So this makes it so that when you sew across here
that will actually open up the quarter of an inch seam. So let me sew that quarter of
an inch down here to show you what I mean. So remember, just a little ear hanging over
on each side, a quarter of an inch. And let me show you that so you can see that. So I’m just going to start this right here
and my needle can go right in that little divot. And you’re just going to sew down
like that. So now let’s open it up, and these should be, see how these lay really
nice like that. And they stay with your, with your quarter of an inch. One doesn’t slide
up or down. You don’t have to hide anything in your seam. And so just remember to hang
your tails over. The other is is when you’re getting ready
to sew your rows together right like this. So here you have your rows all laid out and
you’re getting ready to sew them together, you’re going to put them right on top of
each other like this and you are going to nest these seams. So right here these two
where these points come together, you know try to keep all your seams going this way
on one row and going that way on the other row. And you’re going to nest these up and
you can pretty much feel them as you go along. One will go to one side and one will go to
the other. And then they’ll have a nice match up. So we can also sew those just so
you see that. You know some of these things for, for those of us who have been quilting
a long time, these are just old, you know, things that we know. These are standards.
But sometimes I get, I get going so quick on things that I’m like, Oh I didn’t match
those up. And then you feel like you’ve got to pull those out and make sure they line
up real carefully. So hopefully this will just make everybody pay a little attention
and not rush through this too fast. Because with these easy quilts, it’s easy to get
going. And, you know, then we’re like the horse to water. We just fly home. Alright
so let’s look at this so you can see what I’m talking about. So when they nest up
like this, see right there how that goes together so pretty and it makes the nice, you get your
points right there. And the come together so nice. And it looks like diamonds. Also
once you’re ready to, you get your rows together, and of course remember you’re
going to start and end with a white. And once you get your rows together, see how this comes
together as a quarter of an inch. And that gives you the line that you’re going to
cut your pieces off on. And you’re just going to lay this, I would lay this straight
on the mat like this. And then go ahead and come, you’ll come a quarter of an inch over
on that line. And come straight down. And trim your edge. And that will work for you. So let’s look at our quilt one more time.
You know we’ve got our diamonds across here. And you can see it’s starts, there’s our
little half diamond, I mean I’m sorry, half wedge on this side for the, of the white to
give it the straight edge that we’re then going to sew our 2 ½ inch border to. So of
these little diamonds you’re going to put one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,
nine, ten, eleven, twelve across. And we are going to have one, two, three, four, five,
six, seven rows down. So, so just remember that will help you with the layout. Goes together
super quick and it’s an awesome quilt. And we hope you enjoyed this tutorial on Simple
Diamonds from the MSQC.
