Kissing Diamonds Quilt Tutorial

After I posted my Verdant quilt a few weeks ago I had a few requests for a tutorial.  Since this is not all that difficult to put together I thought I would put together a quick tutorial.
kissing diamonds quilt tutorial
I thought I'd change the name of the quilt for the tutorial since Verdant referred to all of the green in my quilt and you can use whichever fabrics you would like.  My daughter is in kindergarten and her teacher is always reminding them not to have "kissing words" when they write, which means that there words touch. Since the edges of each color of diamond touch I thought that would be a fun name :)
verdant finished quilt
Cut the diamonds. You will need 217 total diamonds.  For my quilt I used 5 different colors: 45 green, 45 peach, 37 blue, 46 orange, and 44 yellow.  Some rows need 8 diamonds and some need 7 so depending on your layout you may need a couple more or less than that number.

To cut the diamonds cut a strip of fabric 5" x WOF, leaving the fabric folded.  I used a fat quarter here but you could also use a wider cut.
verdant quilt tutorial
Now turn the fabric sideways and line up the 60 degree mark on your ruler with the bottom of the fabric and trim off the edge. 
verdant quilt tutorial
 Now line up the 60 degree mark with the bottom of the fabric again, but line up the left edge with the 5" mark on the ruler.  Cut.
verdant quilt tutorial
If you are cutting from a fat quarter you can get 2 diamonds per strip and if you are using the full width of the fabric you can get 4 diamonds.  Keep cutting until you have the desired number of diamonds.

Once you have them cut, choose a layout for your quilt.  I am going to make a much smaller version (using Valori Wells Blueprint Basics) to illustrate.
verdant quilt tutorial
We are going to piece them together into diagonal rows like in the following photo.  Forgive my crudely drawn arrows!
verdant quilt tutorial
To piece together the diamonds take two of the diamonds from a diagonal row.
verdant quilt tutorial
And fold the top diamond down onto the bottom diamond so they are right sides together.  Instead of lining up the corners like you do with squares, you want the edges of the diamonds to cross 1/4" from the top.  If it helps you can measure 1/4" down to make sure you are getting it right, but after you have done a few you should just be able to eyeball it.  Be careful not to stretch the fabric.  I like to use a pin at each edge and 2 in the middle just to be safe.
verdant quilt tutorial
Press your seams open.  Now repeat until you have completed the row.  You can clip the little dog ears if you prefer to, but I left mine and didn't feel like it added much bulk at all.  
verdant quilt tutorial
Once you have completed the rows they should look something like this (but of course bigger).
verdant quilt tutorial
Piecing together the rows is slightly trickier, but still not that hard, because you can't see where you are lining up the seams.  Elizabeth Hartman recently did a really great tutorial about piecing diamonds if you want some additional help.  You still want the seams to cross 1/4" from the top but you just have to feel around for where they cross.  I would definitely recommend pinning at each seam intersection; the fabric here can stretch and we don't want that to happen!
verdant quilt tutorial
Piece the rows until you have a finished quilt top.  
verdant quilt tutorial
Now you are going to trim the edges.  Just line your ruler up 1/4" to the right of where the diamonds meet on the end of your quilt.  I'm not sure if that makes sense so hopefully this photo will help.
verdant quilt tutorial
And you have a finished quilt top!
verdant quilt tutorial
I hope that is helpful for those of you that requested a tutorial.  Please let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them!

33 comments

  1. Really nice tutorial, Erica. Thanks for doing it!

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  2. I want to make this sooooo badly! Thanks for the tutorial, I love your finished quilt!

    www.sewcraftychick.blogspot.com

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  3. So so so pretty! The fabrics are just perfect for this.

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  4. Brilliant, thank you. I was just on holiday in America and bought a diamond template to help make one of these! I will still cut strips, but then use the template.

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  5. Hi Erica! Your quilt is so beautiful and this tutorial very helpful! x Teje

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  6. Your quilt is beautiful, the fabrics are so visually striking, I really like the deep green. Thank you for the tutorial, you did a great job. The directions are very clear and easy to follow, great pics. Looks like a challenging and fun project.

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  7. Thank you for the tutorial. You did a great job. Your quilt and the fabrics are sooo nice!

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  8. Thanks so much for going to the trouble of making us a tutorial. I have been wanting to make a diamond quilt and these instructions are just what I needed. All I need now is a little courage to tackle the bias
    edges !

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  9. Thanks for the tutorial - and I'm glad I don't have to buy another ruler for this one! Can't wait to try this one!

    Linda T

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  10. Thanks so much for the tutorial. Especially the cutting part. I just recently did my first triangle quilt with a quilt-along and this is very similar but I'd never have thought of it without your great instructions/pictures! Thanks for taking the time to do a tutorial!


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  11. Thanks so much for sharing your tips and tuto.Your quilt and quilting is just stunning!!

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  12. This is such a pretty quilt! Great colors and fabrics. Thanks for the tutorial.

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  13. awesome tutorial! you made it seem a lot less scary than I imagined LOL!

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  14. Thanks for the tutorial! I admired your quilt when you posted and am so glad you posted the tutorial! I've bookmarked it and it's now on my long list of quilts I want to make!

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  15. Thank you for sharing! I would love to try this. Do you think I could do the same sort of thing with a 45 degree diamond shaped ruler? My daughter gave me one as a gift and I'm not quite sure what I can do with it.

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  16. Your quilt is beautiful, and the tutorial is really clear. Thanks for sharing. I think I might have to give this one a try.

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  17. fantastic, thanks for sharing this tutorial. Your quilt is beautiful.

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  18. You've taken what look like a difficult pattern and made a very easy to understand explanation. Thanks so much for doing this. You are very talented.

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  19. Great tutorial. Thank you. Can't wait to make my first diamond quilt.
    Happy quilting.
    Fiona. Xx

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  20. Great tutorial. Thank you. Can't wait to make my first diamond quilt.
    Happy quilting.
    Fiona. Xx

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  21. I noticed that you said to press the seams open. I thought that you always press the seams to one side when piecing a quilt.

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  23. Love your tutorial! Thanks so much for making it so simple. I was planning to buy a quilt pattern for this but can now avoid the cost thanks to your generosity. I'll be making this quilt soon and will encourage my quilting friends to go to your website for the great patterns you provide. Thanks again! God bless, Linda

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  24. Thank you for great tutorial. When putting the rows together, I was wanting to know if there are any tricks to getting the intersections perfect on the first try.

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    1. I don't think there is really a trick other than maybe using a ruler to measure 1/4" down and then making sure your seams cross right at the 1/4" mark. I would recommend trying a couple at first to see how they turn out before you pin all of the blocks.

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  25. What is the finished size of his quilt

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  26. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  27. I would like to say that this blog really convinced me to do it! Thanks, very good post. Diamond color

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  31. So helpful and simply put! Thank you!

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