The Diamond Square block

Diamond square quilt block

The Diamond Square block is number 8. That makes me a tenth of the way there… woohoo!! I wasn’t joking when I said this was going to take me over a year to make! The ‘pile’ (if you can call it that) of completed blocks is slowly growing. and issue 11 of the Art of Quilting has supplied the first batch of sashing (the white fabric that will join them altogether). I have yet to complete blocks 9 and 10 before I begin that task, when I shall then present them as one – a far more interesting post I’m sure!

I am happy to report that this particular block was a breeze. It is based on 2 sets of triangles around a central square. The central square allows for the use of bigger print and with the contrasting outer levels gives a great illusion of a square in a square in a square. All points matched up this time and I particularly like how it worked on the reverse!

diamond square quilt block reverse

Block Facts:

Name: Diamond Square block
History: This block design appears on quilts dating back to the 1870s. It is also known as ‘Pride of Holland’ or ‘Night and Day’
Level: beginner
No. of pieces: 9

Progress report:

Block 1: The Double Four Patch
Block 2: The Whirlwind
Block 3: The Sailboat
Block 4: The Shoo-fly
Block 5: The Trafalgar
Block 6: The Windmill
Block 7: The Chequer Square
Block 8: The Diamond Square

The Chequer Square quilt block

chequer square block

‘A simple combination of squares and rectangles makes this block easy to piece…’ For some, may be! This is the Chequer Square block, number 7 in the series from The Art of Quilting. For sure, it looked easy enough and I was quite looking forward to not having any triangles and points to line up. But I still messed up, doh!

chequer spare block detail

I am trying really hard to ignore the misalignment as I proceed with the other blocks but it is really niggling and I might possibly go back and sort it out… but then again… who’s going to notice this in amongst the other 79 quilt blocks?! 😉 I guess that’s what handmade quilts are all about!

Block Facts:

Name: Chequer Square Block
History: Similar designs, of different dimensions but all based on a simple arrangement of squares and rectangles, can be found on some of the earliest surviving quilts.
Level: beginner
No. of pieces: 12

Progress report:

Block 1: The Double Four Patch
Block 2: The Whirlwind
Block 3: The Sailboat
Block 4: The Shoo-fly
Block 5: The Trafalgar
Block 6: The Windmill
Block 7: The Chequer Square