Hi everybody, it’s Jenny from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. And I’ve got a really
fun project for you today. Take a look at this quilt behind me. Isn’t this gorgeous?
It’s got a really cool look to it but it’s really easy to do and let me show you how
to make this. So to make this quilt what you’re going to need is one roll of 2 ½ inch strips.
And we have used Pin Drop by Christopher Thompson, who by the way is an amazing person. And of
course it has pins on it so we love fabric that has sewing things on it. Love, love,
love this line. It’s bright and happy and gorgeous. You’re going to need some background
fabric, about 2 ½ yards or 2 ¼ yards actually of white. And this is all these pieces in
here. You’re going to need the rhombus tool. This is what we used to make that. And I know,
you know, when you look at it you don’t actually see that but this is, I love learning
new techniques and showing you guys how to do new techniques. And this is one where we
used the rhombus. For your border you’re going to need 1 ¼ yards out here. It’s
a nice big six inch border and for your backing we’ve used the blue. And look at all those
pins. Isn’t that the cutest thing? I love sewing stuff on fabric. You’re going to
need 4 ¾ yards for your background fabric. So let me show you how to do this because
it’s just so much easier than you think.
So first of all you’re going to take some of your backing and we used white. And we’re
going to cut it into five inch strips. So we have a couple of strips here and what we’re
going to do is I’m going to kind of leave this folded up. And I’m going to cut a rhombus
out of it. And I’m just going to lay my rhombus on here like this. And look how slick
that is. Because it’s five inches, let me move this for you. Because it’s five inches
basically you’re cutting two seams right here. Just two seams and that’s all you
need. And I have some cut right here. Here’s my rhombuses. Then you’re going to take
your strips which are here. And we are going to border just one side. And so to do that
what I’ve got here is I’ve got these strips. And I’m going to put my first strip on the
bottom. What I call this bottom and you have to always put them on the same side, so always
on this right side. And it would work if you did the left too but I did it all on the right.
And we’re going to sew. Now you want to make sure when you put these on, we’re going
to fold this back. Because this is going to be cut to match the shape of the rhombus so,
you know, you’re going to have to cut down here like this and we’re going to cut down
here like this.
So let’s go ahead and sew this one on the bottom right here. And if you do the top first
it will work, it just is a different angle. So I think this uses a little less fabric.
Alright so I’m going to anchor this and I’m going to sew a quarter of an inch, make
sure my edge is lined up right there. Alright so once we have that piece all sewn on we’re
going to press it open. So I’m just going to come here and I’m going to just roll
this back. And then what we want to do is we want to grab our little ruler and we’re
going to follow the shape of the rhombus. So we’re going to come along this side like
here and line up your ruler along the shape of your rhombus. And we’re going to make
this cut right here. And then we’re going to come over here and make this cut right
here. I’m going to turn this around so I can do it easier. So like this. So my ruler
lines up along the edge. That’s my line. And then I’m going to cut this right here.
Alright, so now we get to put the strip on the top part right here. And what you have
to remember is you’re going to be cutting this up like this. So you have to make sure
that you have enough room right here to go up. So we’re just going to go and put this
on like this and sew down. And I think I”m going to leave just a little bit more room.
It looks a little short to me. So let me lay that up here like this. And then I’m just
going to come and anchor it, then line up my strip and sew a quarter of an inch. Alrighty
let’s press this one back. And now we’re going to trim this one off. So we’re going
to take our ruler and line it up on the edge like this. And just trim it. And then we’re
going to line this up on the edge of this one and trim it. Alright, now that is your
whole block. How fast was that?
So now you need one more block. And it’s the little triangles right here like this.
And this is your, on your top row and your bottom row. And let me turn this so you can
see how that looks. So these are what’s going to finish off your rows and make them
straight. Otherwise, with the rhombus, you’re going to have, you know, it’s going to come
in like that. So this secondary block is also made with the rhombus. And again you’re
going to take a long strip and we’re just going to take our rhombus. Now on the rhombus
it has a line, this is the line. It says, line up to this edge for cut triangles. So
what we’re going to do is we’re going to line that edge right on the bottom of our
fabric. And we are just going to cut these triangles like this and like this. And we’re
going to cut these little edges right here on the bottom. And then you’re just going
to go and you’re going to flip it over and flip it over and flip it over and flip it
over. And you’re going to cut those out. And you need, for these, of these triangles,
you’re going to need 16 of those. And then we just have to put some fabric right along
the edge. You can put it on any edge you want because it’s the same on all three sides.
And so I’m just going to take one of these triangles and I’m going to lay it on here
like this. Now you want to lay it out here like this first. Because it’s going to be
opened up and we want to make sure that we can cut all the way out, follow that angle.
We’re going to do the same thing. Oops I left my rotary cutter open. Closed it. Alright
so we’re going to do the same thing on this triangle that we did on the full rhombus.
So go ahead and lay it on there. And then we’re going to just lay this on here and
sew a quarter of an inch down the side. Again, any side works. Alright so line this up. And
put my foot on there. Sew down a little bit. And then just line it up. There we go. Alright
now I’m going to press this open and we’re going to trim these. And again you’re going
to need 16 of these. And you’ll get a piece just like this. And this is for finishing
your rows on the top and the bottom. Because you’ll start, each row, you will start and
end with one of these.
So once you have your two blocks made, you’re ready to put the rows together. Now the rows
on this quilt are all put together diagonally. So it just takes a little bit of brain work.
It’s, for those of us who are angley challenged it’s a little bit more, I wouldn’t say
difficult. It’s just a little more brain work. You just have to pay attention a little
more. So when you sew these long rows together, they’re going to go together just like this.
You’re going to put one, sew one right sides like this. You’re going to make sure that
you have a quarter of an inch hanging over on either side. And you’re going to sew
these down like this. And we’re just going to sew two of these together so I can show
you how it works. And we’re going to line these up. Make sure these match up pretty
good. Alright now we’ll press this open, see how I did. Oh, pretty good.
Alright now let me show you how these fit in the quilt and how you’re going to use
your triangle. So these are going to go in here like this. So we’re going to sew them
together in long rows this way. And this top one up here is going to be like this. And
see if we just had these rows they would come in like this. And so this is your finishing
triangle right up here. So it’s going to go, you’re going to start one like this.
And you’re going to start this right here. So we’re going to put this at the top. So
this little triangle is the top of all of these rows as they come along here. So when
you start to sew your row together you’re going to start with this and then you’re
going to continue on. Now when you get down here to the bottom and you put that triangle
on your bottom, pretend this is the very bottom of my quilt. Well I’ll put an orange one
on here because I’d never put blue with blue. So you’re going to go all the way
down here. And what you have to remember is you’re just going to finish that line. So
you’re going to do that.
Alright now let’s talk about these sides. Because our sides of our quilt out here, see
how these go like this, you can see that this was the block that I started with on the side
but it comes way over. Well we just trimmed these off, so we just trimmed these straight
right here. And on this side over here they’re again doing the same thing. But you’re going
to trim most of your color off. So you can do that. Now you can leave them whole and
bind like this. I chose not to. I just, you know, I just thought it would be easier to
do it this way.
So it’s a quick little block. It’s a great way to do it. It’s a fun setting because
it makes us think outside the box. And so remember, our rows are going to go together
this way. And of course, it’s just absolutely the most fabulous fabric ever. So this quilt
makes a great size quilt. It is 71 by 76. It’s a super easy block. I did say it takes
some brain work but you know what we’ve got a diagram for you in the pattern so that
makes it really easy for you. We’re calling this the Rhombus Gemstone because we’ve
added that nice frame to that one side. And we hope you enjoyed this tutorial from the
Missouri Star Quilt Company.