diamonds

The seams intersect only on the seam line. They do not intersect at the outer edges of the fabric. I hope that makes sense.

When you line up diamonds, the seams make an X shape.

marcella

Neatly and firmly stack the diamond patches in a ziplock bag. Close it before any escape. Slide the bag beneath a pile of batting or unfolded laundry. Listen to soothing music and read a good book until you've forgotten all about them. Trust me. Polly

"Karen, Queen of Squishies" Okay. So. The nine-patches might be finished tomorrow. Then I have

Handle them as little as possible, first of all.

You might be able to cut them with one side on the grain; but, unless they are 90° diamonds, you will not manage more than one. If they are

60° diamonds - which I imagine these are, you might like to try a very light stabiliser ironed onto the back - perhaps a soluble one, so that you are not stuck with them there in perpetuity. I do remember from many threads in the past here, when sewing on the bias (to any degree) that starching will help considerably. But, do be careful when pressing after starching that there is no lateral movement of the iron at all. Such shapes are extremely vulnerable to lateral movement.

I've actually never had any trouble, but I have handled them very gently. It is one of my favourite shapes, so I have it a fair bit.

I should try the starching first and see how that goes. Sew them together in small numbers - don't just go adding one to one and then another until you get your nine sewn together. You should be able to sew them together in rows of three, then sew the three rows together.

Finally, keep a master template of the diamond handy (a paper one or plastic), so that, if you are in any doubt, you can compare your diamonds with the template, so that you can see whether it has been distorted at all.

Enjoy it, they look so pretty. .

In message , "Karen, Queen of Squishies" writes

I'm with Polly! But just for the record, how do you line up two diamond shaped pieces for stitching? I know it's not along outside lines. Is there an online tutorial anybody knows about?

Sunny (Polly I got them into the ziplock bag, but they're still calling to me. )

Exactly. How do you line up two diamond shapes for stitching, so that they line up when you unfold them afterwards?

Karen, Queen of Squishies

Lining up odd angles is really not terribly difficult. Just takes some time and patience. To see what I mean try drawing 2 diamonds paper. Include seam lines so that you see where the seam line intersects. Line up the paper diamonds with a pin straight through the seam intersections at both ends of the seam. You will see that a little "ear" pokes out from under/over one of the diamonds on each end. This forms a bit of a "V", and the seam line is exactly where the point of the "V" is. If you start and stop stitching at the "V" you will get a matched seam. If starching, it is best to starch before cutting. And if you starch and iron layers together (do one, add each additional layer to stack) you sort of "glue" the layers together. It is often just enough hold to keep the layers of fabric from shifting as you cut. It also helps if you can sew a straight grain edge to a bias edge, with the bias on the bottom, but that often may not work. Since diamonds in general are parallelograms, opposite edges will be straight grain.

Go slow, remember to breathe and do a couple of "throw away-able" tests to start. Once you find the correct "V" placement you will soon be able to do a good job of "eye-balling" it and they will go fast.

Have fun, Pati, > > > I'm with Polly! But just for the record, how do you line up two

When you're ready to sew, I was taught that putting a pin though the actual fabric helps too. I start with a pin perpendicular to the fabric to align things at the seam line, then use pins lying flat to hold the seams together. One 'flat' pin on either side of the perpendicular pin. Once the side pins are in place pull out the perpendicular pin. Hope this is clear - it's hard to explain without pictures! Good luck! Allison

I have to apologize. I forgot to stop by as promised after the garage sale. Will stop by tomorrow or pass my pile on to you thru Bob.

Musicmaker

If the diamonds are in some sort of pattern and not all random colors, you can do a lot by strip piecing, then slicing the resulting striped layout into strips of diamonds. If you have instructions for making a Lone Star with rotary cutting, that would show you how.

Monique in TX