Dazzling

Ever since I made Oliver's first quilt last year I've been interested in learning more about diamond patchwork. FancyCrazys, one of my favorite quilting supply sellers on Etsy, had a used book on diamond quilts up for sale, so I invested.

Diamond Quilts & Beyond by Jan Krentz is packed full of inspiration and instructions on how to manage the 45 degree diamond as a single-unit design feature. This is exactly what I needed to wrap my head around this kind of patchwork.

Most of the book is about construction and design, color and pattern choices and ideas. There are four projects at the end that looks fairly simple, but I'm more interested in seeing how other quilters use diamonds. Fortunately the author included a gallery section with 34 diamond quilts by herself and other makers to admire.

There's a distinct Asian feel to all the quilts in this book, which is definitely my favorite vibe. One thing I appreciate about this approach to quilt making are the straight seams. I am not great at piecing, and being able to assemble patchwork in rows seems to be the easiest way for me. All of these diamond quilts are constructed in diagonal rows. When you're trying to match up seams row piecing is the simplest way to do that (or hide your mistakes, like I do.)

Here are some of the quilts from the gallery section:

Since this book was published back in 2005 it's probably out of print now, but if you're interested in getting a copy I'm pretty sure you can easily locate a used edition. Alibris has 28 copies available starting at $1.45.