Monday, April 22, 2019

Be a Diamond Blog Hop


Welcome to my stop on the Be a Diamond Blog Hop inspired by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt.



If you're visiting this blog for the first time, my name is Janice, I live in a small farm town in southern Idaho and I have been quilting for 3 years now.  This blog hop actually falls only 5 days after my 3 year blog anniversary!  It has been such a fun adventure!   I really hope I meet some new QB's (quilting buddies) as a result of this hop.  I am not a teacher, designer, pattern writer, or famous in any way at all so this blog is strictly about my adventures in quilting and creating.  I hope you'll become a part of my story!

OK, I'll get to my "diamond" story.  

What would you do if you suddenly owned a BOATLOAD of pre-cut 60 degree diamonds like this?

All florals with yellow backgrounds . . 


And we're not talking just a few . . .


We're talking hundreds!


with over 30 different fabrics represented.


If you want to know the story of how and why these diamonds ended up in my hands, you can read about it here.   

After publishing that post and asking for ideas about what to do with this pile of diamonds that someone had spent a lot of time cutting, a fellow blogger suggested I should join this hop.  So I did!  I contacted Carol and she added me in.  Another blogger friend had a GREAT suggestion  to start a series of Blog posts about these diamonds and name them the Diamond Chronicles.  So I did!  Thank you, Kathy!

So the first thing was to decide what Quilt #1 in the Diamonds Chronicles was going to be.  

Tumbling blocks?

Chevrons?


Bigger diamonds?


Stars?



I decided to go with stars!  And as a result needed some more diamonds to fill in the blanks between stars.  In amongst the fabric haul I had acquired were also a variety of solids so I picked this beautiful sky blue and cut 30 more diamonds to go with my stars like this!


And here's the finished quilt top . . .


Now to decide what to use on the back and how to quilt it.  From the same haul of fabric the diamonds came with, happened to be a piece of solid pink the PERFECT size!  So pink it was.  I chose some cute pink striped fabric and cut it on the diagonal to use as binding.


The quilting was done in a simple three way grid that I learned from watching a class by Christina Cameli called Quilting the Grid.  You can read my review of that class here.  I almost added in orange peel curves into the grid as I did in this practice piece . . .

But decided to keep it simple and stopped with just the grid.  And here is my finished baby quilt!  
It measures 46 x 44 and  will be gifted to my third granddaughter  (Nora Joy Eileen) who is due in just a few weeks!  It was a windy day and I couldn't get any decent outside pictures without them looking wonky.  Oh well.  


Here's a shot on the grass.



I'll close out my post with a shot of me and my two sweet granddaughters in their Easter dresses.



I hope you'll come visit again to see what quilt I'll make next in the Diamond Chronicles!  I've only used 60 diamonds out of over 500!

Be sure to visit the rest of the talented bloggers in the Be a Diamond Blog Hop!   


52 comments:

  1. How cool! Loved what you did. I look forward to seeing more from your Diamond Chronicles.

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  2. Beautiful quilt, and what a great way to use some of that big fabric stash!

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  3. I love the photo of your granddaughters and you! I especially like that they are all dressed up and the older one is proudly displaying an old stick! Love, love, love it! Great binding to finish off this baby quilt!

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  4. Love your star quilt! You'll be sewing diamonds forever, the diamond chronicles are a good idea.

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  5. I love how the stars pop on that beautiful blue background! I've been keeping up with the diamond chronicles and can't wait to read more. I've never worked with them before, so I'm living through you :)

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  6. Lovely finish, hope to see more of your diamond projects.

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  7. What a wonderful post and quilt! You have done a fantastic job with those diamonds.

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  8. Wow your quilt is amazing, love the colors. Lucky little girl who receives it.

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  9. That turned out beautifully, Janice! I really like the blue background you put with the stars and how you quilted your diamonds, too. So perfect for a brand new grandbaby!

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  10. Tanks for your story about the diamonds. The quilt is so beautiful and a it will be a lucky little girl who will receive the quilt

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  11. Love it! I do like the way you have quilted it, and love the pic in front of the tractor!! Glad you joined in on the hop :) xx

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  12. This quilt turned out so beautiful using some of those treasured diamonds! I love the photo with the tractor and those little granddaughters are adorable. Your quilting was perfect for this, too. Thanks for hopping with us and sharing your amazing diamonds!

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  13. Janice,

    I love your quilt. I love receiving things like that from people. Can't believe you have only.been quilting 3 years. I love reading your blog, and the fact that we are practically neighbors. (I am in Utah, North of Salt Lake).

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  14. love seeing you with your granddaughters - so cute in their dress up clothes. Love all your diamonds and the quilting - the orange peel design is interesting too!

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  15. I really enjoyed reading the Diamond Chronicles. Your yellow start baby quilts is a beautiful finish. Looking forward to more diamond adventures as you use up that huge pile of yellow diamonds. I love yellow. I always love all the inspiration in these blog hops. Thank you for sharing ... :) Pat

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  16. Those yellow diamonds are so pretty and made such a nice baby quilt. The little ones in their Easter dresses are also adorable.

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  17. I love the diamond quilt you made! Great job!
    And the photo of the Easter dresses is just darling!

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  18. What a sweet baby quilt!
    Your granddaughters are absolutely adorable! Great pic of you with them!

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  19. I guess you will be making diamond quilts for a long time if you have hundreds of them left. Your baby quilt is beautiful and you have such adorable granddaughters! I have only one grandson and wished I had a granddaughter, but looks like my one and only grandson will be the only grandchild I will have. Oh the cute girly quilts and bags I could have made if only I had a granddaughter.

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  20. Great job on this quilt. Congrats on the haul. Welcome to our world of Quilting Blog Hops. It is very addicting. Looking forward to seeing you here again participating in future hops.

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  21. I had a huge case of quilters block for this hop. You made me remember all the things diamonds can do. Great post. Those little grands are so darn cute. Makes you just want to hug them. Hope you had a wonderful Easter.

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  22. Adorable star quilt as is the Easter picture of you & sweet granddaughters.

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  23. That turned out beautifully! You chose a great setting and that picture with the grandkids is so sweet.

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  24. Diamond stars are a timeless pattern. Your version with the florals is perfect for spring and Easter and your lovely granddaughters.

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  25. You did a beautiful job on the diamond star quilt and your newest granddaughter will be lucky to have it for her very own.

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  26. This is a great finish! Love the choice of binding.

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  27. That turned out beautifully - the background is the perfect choice!

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  28. Great quilt - love the pink tractor!!!

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  29. Love how your quilt turned out! What a gift of all those diamonds. Your granddaughters are so cute! And I do love the tractor!

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  30. Very nice....love the colours and it turned out wonderful!

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  31. Wow....Great job on picking colors to go with it...So spring feeling. ...happyness04431@yahoo.com

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  32. It turned out great. Such adorable granddaughters. Such big smiles.

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  33. This quilt has a story and I really enjoyed the process and the quilt. I for one, love Y seams. I guess it's the nerd in me. Your granddaughters are adorable and so are you!

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  34. Great quilt to use your diamonds on!! Love the wonky picture and the Farmall (have a few of those in the family) is awesome!!

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  35. Yay for you jumping right in with those diamonds. Such a treasure trove. I love how you added in the blue and pink. The quilt will be so sweet for your granddaughter. Happy waiting! Sweet picture of you with your other grands!

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  36. Very nice, I love florals, so much fun to work with.

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  37. Love all the soft florals and you just have to love a striped binding.

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  38. Your star quilt turned out perfectly Janice, and the Diamond Chronicles is a brilliant idea. I have been enjoying them so far. :)

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  39. What a fun way to use up your diamonds! I adore the tractor backdrop in your photo!

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  40. The quilt turned out fabulous! How about a lone star quilt to use up some of those wonderful diamonds?

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  41. Lovely quilt and great ideas. You could also make some EPP units. That would give you some "away from the sewing machine" work.

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  42. I am glad you joined the hop! Thanks for sharing your diamond quilt. Congrats on the new grand-baby. I can't wait to see what else you come up with to use the diamonds. MelvaLovesScraps(at)NolanQualityCustoms(dot)com

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  43. Wowsers!! It really turned out sweet, Janice! Not as sweet as those two little cutie pie granddaughters, though :)

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  44. Awesome quilt! I love the striped binding as well. I have an idea for some of your diamonds. You could cut them in half and have 2 triangles? Then sew them together in a row with one pointy side down, then pointy side up, etc. Just a thought :-). I signed up to follow your blog! Enjoy your day!! :-) :-) angielovesgary2 atgmail dotcom

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  45. Hi Janice! I'm glad I stumbled my way back to your blog today. I'll just bet that Nora Joy (love that name) just adores her new quilt. She can wrap herself in your love any time she wishes. Now I'm off to read about the acquired diamonds - and I'll be back to read more of the Chronicles. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  46. Love it! I'm going to enjoy seeing what else you make with your stash of yellow diamonds. Thanks for sharing.

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  47. Janice, you are such a brave blogging quilter--3 years quilting and 3 years blogging! Great job on the baby quilt, Y-seams and all! And I love the quilts-in-the-wild photo shot! But my fav is the photo of you and your GDs!

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  48. Those are some beautiful floral prints. Looks so, so pretty with the blue sky background. Total perfection!

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  49. It looks great, Janice! I love that pink binding! Your new granddaughter will love it for years to come!

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  50. Beautiful quilt! You had so many choices to make, and really you couldn't go wrong, it seems. That binding is spot on, too. Thanks for linking up to What I Made Monday.

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I LOVE meeting new quilting friends and always respond to comments so I'd love to hear from you!