[diamond ring quilt] part one

Heads up - This post isn't a DIY. More of a review for a quilt pattern I did recently...I'm not completely finished yet, but when I am, I'll definitely post some pictures!

So long story short, I made myself ANOTHER quilt. Because I gave my herringbone quilt to my sis for her birthday. I pinky swear I am keeping this one. And I will cause physical harm to anyone who tries to take it. Physical harm, people. I took one day of karate when I was 7. So watch out.

Anyways, I'll steer this post back to a happy place and show you which pattern I picked.

We sell this pattern at ETC and I thought to myself, "Gee, this looks like a simple & easy quilt to make!"

Well, I must of not seen the giant circle in the middle of it, cause let me tell you, circles are <f%#&@*> hard stuff!

I wish Green Bee had given instructions on how to cut out the circle, but after a few tiny giant mistakes I eventually figured it out. Let me just say, I am SO thankful that 6 yards of background fabric was MORE than enough to compensate for my mistakes. And FYI, this was my circle cutting out method >> (http://akhoneybird.blogspot.com/2012/12/how-to-cut-perfect-fabric-circle.html)

I also didn't completely realize that it would have been a lot more helpful to label each diamond half with "top" or "bottom". I thought each diamond half was symmetrical, but I realized pretty quickly they weren't. It ended up not making a huge difference, but I think if I had done it perfectly the quilt top would have turned out, well, more perfect : ) But good thing I am only a perfectionist at the beginning of a labor intensive project; cause by the end of making a quilt, my attitude is usually, "AH SCREW IT."

This is what each diamond block looks like. And to be completely honest, this was the best looking one of the bunch. So of course I had to document it's awesomeness with a pic! I also recommend saving your scraps after you've cut the circles out in the beginning. You can use the curved edges to cut out the background diamond pieces a lot easier.

Picture of half of the top complete!

And my favorite part of this quilt...My binding fabric!

I have the top totally finished right now, "just" <HA!> need to quilt it. (I am scared people, really scared)

Oh, and for anyone wondering I used Moda's ABC123 by American Jane for all of the top (minus the background), and the red/white stripe for the binding is Moda's Marmalade by Bonnie and Camille.

So I give this pattern a B+. For the most part I felt like the instructions were very thorough and helpful. They also were very generous with the yardage requirements. If you have experience cutting out large circles, you really only need maybe 4 1/2 yards of background fabric instead of the 6 they suggest. I also thought that even though this probably wasn't the best first quilt pattern with curves to attempt, it also could have been WAY worse. So yeah, I say try it if you love the pattern. And if you need moral support, I'm your girl!

Anyways, I will have more pictures of the completed quilt soon!!

<3 Lindsey