Lancaster Diamond: The Decisions!

 

So, I'm trying to get a bit of a head start on the Lancaster Diamond project. I want to be ready to cut and piece and sew when the quilt-along officially begins in January. There are a few decisions I need to make.

The first decision is about a palette, a color scheme, a "look." The original quilt was made from what we now call Civil War Repros. I'm a person who goes through "periods" (think Picasso's Blue?) in her fabric use. I had a several-year period wherein I bought and used CW repros like crazy. And then I was done. I gave my remaining CW stash away because at that time I felt that they only worked with each other. While I wouldn't try to copy the colors used in each diamond block, I admit that the idea of starting up the Civil War again holds some appeal.

But then there's that contemporary version that I saw, the one that really grabbed me. That would mean selecting a color scheme and right now I'm a bit too Decemberish to do that. Ideally, I'd make this from scraps, but, frankly, my recent scrap yield is of a palette that has run its course with me (think Allison Glass, think Tula Pink), those super intense brights that grabbed my attention at a quilt show and claimed it for prolly four years now!

Fortunately, just a week or so ago I was captivated by a FQ bundle of Liberty quilt goods with a Christmas theme and as it was the last one in stock at the LQS site I was visiting, I felt as though I couldn't hesitate to think it over and ordered it immediately, though I had no plans for it. Now I'm thinking how I love those intricate little prints and how a Lancaster Diamond quilt with a Christmasy theme might be just the thing. I'll pick up a handful of FQs in the solids from the group and decide on the background and cornerstones later on.

Speaking of background and cornerstones, did you happen to notice that this quilt is laid out in what I consider to be the absolute most difficult and stressful way? Yup: on point with lattice and cornerstones! Oh, the bad words I've uttered when dealing with this challenge in the past. The book teaches the blocks in an order that more-or-less goes from easiest to most complex/difficult. The author suggests that may be how the original maker, presumed to be a young woman making her first sampler quilt, progressed. That makes sense. That would mean waiting until all of the blocks were pieced before the mammoth task of assembling the quilt, a thought that fills me with apoplexy dread. I don't know what the quilt-along organizer is going to suggest. I think prolly what I will do is make the first few super-simple blocks to kind of get the feel of it all, then set them aside and begin in the upper left-hand corner.

Finally, what if it all gets to be too much for me? There are 137 full diamonds, 32 half diamonds, and four quarter diamonds for a total of 173 unique blocks. When I was a child, one of my mother's many complaints about me was that "you never finish anything." I lived with the shame of that label for many, many years until I concluded that there really is nothing wrong with not finishing a disagreeable project (the dinner dishes, etc., not included). So, right here at the get-go, I'm giving myself public permission to -- at some point, if necessary -- declare "Enough!" and settle for a wall hanging, a table topper, or an exquisite baby quilt.

Please Note: The above photo came from a lovely blog, Ida's Ideas, which is almost exclusively devoted to this woman's journey through the Lancaster Diamond quilt.