Lancaster Diamond: End of March Update

 

Well, here we are again with this month's Lancaster Diamond update. A lot has happened!

I've lost count of how many full diamonds and half-diamonds I've made. I do mark them off on the chart (and also count the pieces in each block!), though, and it looks as though I've made way more than half. 

The diamonds were piling up and becoming unwieldy. I knew very well that if I made every single diamond and then started assembly, I would give up. Putting the blocks together on any quilt is my least favorite part of the process. On-point is more distasteful than straight sets. On-point with lattice and cornerstones is downright odious. On-point with lattice and cornerstones with the added feature of being diamonds rather than squares was daunting beyond belief; there was absolutely no way I could do all of it at the end. I had to take a break from block-making and do some assembly. 

So, I got out a bunch of clothespins and marked each one with a letter "B" through "R." I went through all of the diamonds made (I'd penciled the block number and page number on the backs of them) and sorted them by letters and clipped each letter row together. Then I consulted my diagram and, beginning with Row B*, if I had all of the blocks for the row, I assembled it and also assembled the lattice/cornerstone row to the left of it. If I didn't have all of the blocks for that row, I made them. That part was fun -- it gave me a break from the detestable setting process.

Here we have, complete, Row "B" through "H." And tomorrow I shall pack everything up for a hiatus. I have my March Bee blocks to make (I had planned to make them during a retreat that I missed because of the Texas trip) and now the April Bee blocks are posted and asking for my attention (and they're pretty irresistible). I have a birthday present quilt plus two Halo quilts that I picked up from the local machinist after we got back from Texas; yesterday I bought the binding fabric for all three of them, and since that birthday is coming up very fast, binding will take up the next few evenings. I don't anticipate having a lot to share, diamond wise, for April, but I'll definitely post an end-of-month report.

I have to say how pleased I am with what is done so far. I really, really like the low contrast between my lattice and my cornerstones. When I tried out a higher contrast pairing, I definitely felt like that drew the eye away from the blocks. I've said a few bad words along the way, "Buggy Wheels!" being a favorite, but only a few. I'm immersed in the process and through the project I've become a more accurate piecer, a more confident quilter who no longer finds some of the blocks terrifying but rather a puzzle to be figured out. 

*I began with row B rather than A because a is a single, corner, quarter-diamond block and when I assemble on-point, I always do the corners last. This quilt has rows "A" through "S."